When you buy a stock there is always a possibility that it could drop 100%. But on the bright side, if you buy shares in a high quality company at the right price, you can gain well over 100%. For example, the Brisbane Broncos Limited (ASX:BBL) share price has soared 104% in the last half decade. Most would be very happy with that. It's even up 4.4% in the last week.

So let's investigate and see if the longer term performance of the company has been in line with the underlying business' progress.

View our latest analysis for Brisbane Broncos

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. 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.

Over half a decade, Brisbane Broncos managed to grow its earnings per share at 48% a year. This EPS growth is higher than the 15% average annual increase in the share price. So it seems the market isn't so enthusiastic about the stock 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 Brisbane Broncos' 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). Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. As it happens, Brisbane Broncos' TSR for the last 5 years was 121%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

A Different Perspective

Brisbane Broncos shareholders gained a total return of 4.8% during the year. Unfortunately this falls short of the market return. On the bright side, the longer term returns (running at about 17% a year, over half a decade) look better. It may well be that this is a business worth popping on the watching, given the continuing positive reception, over time, from the market. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Even so, be aware that Brisbane Broncos is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...