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In order to justify the effort of selecting individual stocks, it's worth striving to beat the returns from a market index fund. But even the best stock picker will only win with some selections. So we wouldn't blame long term SIA Engineering Company Limited (SGX:S59) shareholders for doubting their decision to hold, with the stock down 50% over a half decade.
Check out our latest analysis for SIA Engineering
To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.
During the five years over which the share price declined, SIA Engineering's earnings per share (EPS) dropped by 9.6% each year. This reduction in EPS is less than the 13% annual reduction in the share price. This implies that the market is more cautious about the business these days.
The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).
It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on SIA Engineering's earnings, revenue and cash flow.
What About Dividends?
As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. We note that for SIA Engineering the TSR over the last 5 years was -39%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!
A Different Perspective
Investors in SIA Engineering had a tough year, with a total loss of 17% (including dividends), against a market gain of about 5.6%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 9.4% over the last half decade. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. Before forming an opinion on SIA Engineering you might want to consider the cold hard cash it pays as a dividend. This free chart tracks its dividend over time.