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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%. One great example is Nordson Corporation (NASDAQ:NDSN) which saw its share price drive 102% higher over five years. Also pleasing for shareholders was the 10% gain in the last three months. The company reported its financial results recently; you can catch up on the latest numbers by reading our company report.
Let's take a look at the underlying fundamentals over the longer term, and see if they've been consistent with shareholders returns.
Check out our latest analysis for Nordson
While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. 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 five years of share price growth, Nordson achieved compound earnings per share (EPS) growth of 5.6% per year. This EPS growth is lower than the 15% average annual increase in the share price. So it's fair to assume the market has a higher opinion of the business than it did five years ago. That's not necessarily surprising considering the five-year track record of earnings growth.
The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).
Dive deeper into Nordson's key metrics by checking this interactive graph of Nordson's earnings, revenue and cash flow.
What About Dividends?
It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. We note that for Nordson the TSR over the last 5 years was 113%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!
A Different Perspective
Nordson shareholders are up 3.8% for the year (even including dividends). But that was short of the market average. On the bright side, the longer term returns (running at about 16% a year, over half a decade) look better. Maybe the share price is just taking a breather while the business executes on its growth strategy. 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 Nordson is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...