Such Is Life: How Patriot Transportation Holding (NASDAQ:PATI) Shareholders Saw Their Shares Drop 61%
Generally speaking long term investing is the way to go. But along the way some stocks are going to perform badly. For example, after five long years the Patriot Transportation Holding, Inc. (NASDAQ:PATI) share price is a whole 61% lower. That's not a lot of fun for true believers. And we doubt long term believers are the only worried holders, since the stock price has declined 50% over the last twelve months. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 31% in the last 90 days. But this could be related to the weak market, which is down 16% in the same period.
See our latest analysis for Patriot Transportation Holding
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.
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 Patriot Transportation Holding the TSR over the last 5 years was -54%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!
A Different Perspective
We regret to report that Patriot Transportation Holding shareholders are down 40% for the year (even including dividends) . Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 4.6%. 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. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 14% over the last half decade. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Patriot Transportation Holding better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 5 warning signs for Patriot Transportation Holding (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable) that you should be aware of.
If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
