Silver Lake Resources Limited (ASX:SLR) shareholders have seen the share price descend 25% over the month. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last five years have been very strong. Indeed, the share price is up an impressive 218% in that time. We think it's more important to dwell on the long term returns than the short term returns. The more important question is whether the stock is too cheap or too expensive today.
While this past week has detracted from the company's five-year return, let's look at the recent trends of the underlying business and see if the gains have been in alignment.
Check out our latest analysis for Silver Lake Resources
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, Silver Lake Resources achieved compound earnings per share (EPS) growth of 27% per year. This EPS growth is reasonably close to the 26% average annual increase in the share price. This indicates that investor sentiment towards the company has not changed a great deal. Indeed, it would appear the share price is reacting to the EPS.
You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).
It is of course excellent to see how Silver Lake Resources has grown profits over the years, but the future is more important for shareholders. You can see how its balance sheet has strengthened (or weakened) over time in this free interactive graphic.
A Different Perspective
While the broader market gained around 4.7% in the last year, Silver Lake Resources shareholders lost 20%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 26%, each year, over five years. If the fundamental data continues to indicate long term sustainable growth, the current sell-off could be an opportunity worth considering. 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 3 warning signs for Silver Lake Resources that you should be aware of.
Of course Silver Lake Resources may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.