Anpario plc (LON:ANP) shareholders might be concerned after seeing the share price drop 11% in the last month. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last five years have been pleasing. It has returned a market beating 48% in that time. Unfortunately not all shareholders will have held it for the long term, so spare a thought for those caught in the 26% decline over the last twelve months.

Let's take a look at the underlying fundamentals over the longer term, and see if they've been consistent with shareholders returns.

Check out our latest analysis for Anpario

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. 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).

During five years of share price growth, Anpario achieved compound earnings per share (EPS) growth of 8.9% per year. So the EPS growth rate is rather close to the annualized share price gain of 8% per year. This indicates that investor sentiment towards the company has not changed a great deal. In fact, the share price seems to largely reflect the EPS growth.

You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

We know that Anpario has improved its bottom line lately, but is it going to grow revenue? Check if analysts think Anpario will grow revenue in the future.

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 is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. In the case of Anpario, it has a TSR of 60% for the last 5 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

A Different Perspective

We regret to report that Anpario shareholders are down 24% for the year (even including dividends). Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 4.6%. However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. On the bright side, long term shareholders have made money, with a gain of 10% per year over half a decade. It could be that the recent sell-off is an opportunity, so it may be worth checking the fundamental data for signs of a long term growth trend. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Anpario better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Anpario that you should be aware of before investing here.