Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) Shareholders Have Enjoyed A 66% Share Price Gain
The main point of investing for the long term is to make money. But more than that, you probably want to see it rise more than the market average. Unfortunately for shareholders, while the Columbia Sportswear Company (NASDAQ:COLM) share price is up 66% in the last five years, that's less than the market return. However, more recent buyers should be happy with the increase of 30% over the last year.
View our latest analysis for Columbia Sportswear
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 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).
Columbia Sportswear's earnings per share are down 8.1% per year, despite strong share price performance over five years.
This means it's unlikely the market is judging the company based on earnings growth. Since the change in EPS doesn't seem to correlate with the change in share price, it's worth taking a look at other metrics.
We doubt the modest 1.0% dividend yield is attracting many buyers to the stock. On the other hand, Columbia Sportswear's revenue is growing nicely, at a compound rate of 4.3% over the last five years. It's quite possible that management are prioritizing revenue growth over EPS growth at the moment.
You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).
It's probably worth noting that the CEO is paid less than the median at similar sized companies. But while CEO remuneration is always worth checking, the really important question is whether the company can grow earnings going forward. So it makes a lot of sense to check out what analysts think Columbia Sportswear will earn in the future (free profit forecasts).
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. We note that for Columbia Sportswear the TSR over the last 5 years was 74%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!
A Different Perspective
Columbia Sportswear provided a TSR of 30% over the last twelve months. But that return falls short of the market. The silver lining is that the gain was actually better than the average annual return of 12% per year over five year. It is possible that returns will improve along with the business fundamentals. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Columbia Sportswear better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Columbia Sportswear you should know about.
But note: Columbia Sportswear may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with past earnings growth (and further growth forecast).
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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