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The most you can lose on any stock (assuming you don't use leverage) is 100% of your money. But on the bright side, if you buy shares in a high quality company at the right price, you can gain well over 100%. Long term Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (NYSE:LPX) shareholders would be well aware of this, since the stock is up 127% in five years. In the last week the share price is up 2.0%.
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 Louisiana-Pacific
There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect 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.
During five years of share price growth, Louisiana-Pacific achieved compound earnings per share (EPS) growth of 69% per year. This EPS growth is higher than the 18% average annual increase in the share price. So one could conclude that the broader market has become more cautious towards the stock. This cautious sentiment is reflected in its (fairly low) P/E ratio of 3.08.
The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).
We consider it positive that insiders have made significant purchases in the last year. Having said that, most people consider earnings and revenue growth trends to be a more meaningful guide to the business. This free interactive report on Louisiana-Pacific'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. 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. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. We note that for Louisiana-Pacific the TSR over the last 5 years was 146%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!
A Different Perspective
It's nice to see that Louisiana-Pacific shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 11% over the last year. Of course, that includes the dividend. However, the TSR over five years, coming in at 20% per year, is even more impressive. The pessimistic view would be that be that the stock has its best days behind it, but on the other hand the price might simply be moderating while the business itself continues to execute. 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 - Louisiana-Pacific has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.