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Ekovest Berhad (KLSE:EKOVEST) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 16% in the last quarter. But that can't change the reality that over the longer term (five years), the returns have been really quite dismal. In that time the share price has delivered a rude shock to holders, who find themselves down 55% after a long stretch. Some might say the recent bounce is to be expected after such a bad drop. We'd err towards caution given the long term under-performance.
It's worthwhile assessing if the company's economics have been moving in lockstep with these underwhelming shareholder returns, or if there is some disparity between the two. So let's do just that.
View our latest analysis for Ekovest Berhad
To quote Buffett, 'Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace...' One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).
Over five years Ekovest Berhad's earnings per share dropped significantly, falling to a loss, with the share price also lower. Since the company has fallen to a loss making position, it's hard to compare the change in EPS with the share price change. However, we can say we'd expect to see a falling share price in this scenario.
You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).
Dive deeper into Ekovest Berhad's key metrics by checking this interactive graph of Ekovest Berhad's earnings, revenue and cash flow.
What About The Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?
We've already covered Ekovest Berhad's share price action, but we should also mention its total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR attempts to capture the value of dividends (as if they were reinvested) as well as any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings offered to shareholders. Its history of dividend payouts mean that Ekovest Berhad's TSR, which was a 53% drop over the last 5 years, was not as bad as the share price return.
A Different Perspective
We regret to report that Ekovest Berhad shareholders are down 10.0% for the year. Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 4.9%. Having said that, it's inevitable that some stocks will be oversold in a falling market. The key is to keep your eyes on the fundamental developments. However, the loss over the last year isn't as bad as the 9% per annum loss investors have suffered over the last half decade. We'd need to see some sustained improvements in the key metrics before we could muster much enthusiasm. 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. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Ekovest Berhad that you should be aware of.