Generally speaking the aim of active stock picking is to find companies that provide returns that are superior to the market average. Buying under-rated businesses is one path to excess returns. For example, long term Liu Chong Hing Investment Limited (HKG:194) shareholders have enjoyed a 12% share price rise over the last half decade, well in excess of the market return of around 1.4% (not including dividends).

View our latest analysis for Liu Chong Hing Investment

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

Over half a decade, Liu Chong Hing Investment managed to grow its earnings per share at 20% a year. The EPS growth is more impressive than the yearly share price gain of 2.3% over the same period. Therefore, it seems the market has become relatively pessimistic about the company. This cautious sentiment is reflected in its (fairly low) P/E ratio of 4.51.

The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

This free interactive report on Liu Chong Hing Investment's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. 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. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. In the case of Liu Chong Hing Investment, it has a TSR of 42% for the last 5 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

Investors in Liu Chong Hing Investment had a tough year, with a total loss of 5.0% (including dividends) , against a market gain of about 9.9%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 7.2%, each year, over five years. It could be that the recent sell-off is an opportunity, so it may be worth checking the fundamental data for signs of a long term growth trend. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Take risks, for example - Liu Chong Hing Investment has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.