One simple way to benefit from the stock market is to buy an index fund. But many of us dare to dream of bigger returns, and build a portfolio ourselves. For example, Sarawak Oil Palms Berhad (KLSE:SOP) shareholders have seen the share price rise 25% over three years, well in excess of the market decline (7.8%, not including dividends). On the other hand, the returns haven't been quite so good recently, with shareholders up just 8.7% , including dividends .
So let's assess the underlying fundamentals over the last 3 years and see if they've moved in lock-step with shareholder returns.
View our latest analysis for Sarawak Oil Palms Berhad
In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.
During three years of share price growth, Sarawak Oil Palms Berhad achieved compound earnings per share growth of 163% per year. The average annual share price increase of 8% is actually lower than the EPS growth. So it seems investors have become more cautious about the company, over time. We'd venture the lowish P/E ratio of 3.34 also reflects the negative sentiment around the stock.
The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).
We know that Sarawak Oil Palms Berhad has improved its bottom line over the last three years, but what does the future have in store? You can see how its balance sheet has strengthened (or weakened) over time in this free interactive graphic.
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 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. As it happens, Sarawak Oil Palms Berhad's TSR for the last 3 years was 34%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.
A Different Perspective
It's good to see that Sarawak Oil Palms Berhad has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 8.7% in the last twelve months. And that does include the dividend. Since the one-year TSR is better than the five-year TSR (the latter coming in at 0.5% per year), it would seem that the stock's performance has improved in recent times. Given the share price momentum remains strong, it might be worth taking a closer look at the stock, lest you miss an opportunity. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Sarawak Oil Palms Berhad better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Sarawak Oil Palms Berhad (1 is potentially serious) that you should be aware of.