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When you buy a stock there is always a possibility that it could drop 100%. But when you pick a company that is really flourishing, you can make more than 100%. One great example is Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) which saw its share price drive 141% higher over five years. In more good news, the share price has risen 11% in thirty days. We note that Moody's reported its financial results recently; luckily, you can catch up on the latest revenue and profit numbers in our company report.
On the back of a solid 7-day performance, let's check what role the company's fundamentals have played in driving long term shareholder returns.
View our latest analysis for Moody's
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.
During five years of share price growth, Moody's achieved compound earnings per share (EPS) growth of 7.9% per year. This EPS growth is lower than the 19% 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. And that's hardly shocking given the track record of growth.
The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).
It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on Moody's' earnings, revenue and cash flow.
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. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. We note that for Moody's the TSR over the last 5 years was 151%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!
A Different Perspective
It's nice to see that Moody's shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 19% 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. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Moody's better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for Moody's you should be aware of.