Espey Mfg. & Electronics' (NYSEMKT:ESP) Shareholders Are Down 2.5% On Their Investment Over The Past Five Years.
Ideally, your overall portfolio should beat the market average. But in any portfolio, there will be mixed results between individual stocks. At this point some shareholders may be questioning their investment in Espey Mfg. & Electronics Corp. (NYSEMKT:ESP), since the last five years saw the share price fall 24%. Unfortunately the share price momentum is still quite negative, with prices down 9.5% in thirty days.
View our latest analysis for Espey Mfg. & Electronics
To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.
Looking back five years, both Espey Mfg. & Electronics' share price and EPS declined; the latter at a rate of 17% per year. The share price decline of 5% per year isn't as bad as the EPS decline. So the market may previously have expected a drop, or else it expects the situation will improve.
The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).
This free interactive report on Espey Mfg. & Electronics' earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.
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 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. In the case of Espey Mfg. & Electronics, it has a TSR of -2.5% 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
Espey Mfg. & Electronics shareholders are down 3.7% for the year (even including dividends), but the market itself is up 26%. 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. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 0.5% over the last half decade. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. 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. Even so, be aware that Espey Mfg. & Electronics is showing 5 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those doesn't sit too well with us...
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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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