Some PICO Holdings (NASDAQ:PICO) Shareholders Have Copped A Big 59% Share Price Drop
The main aim of stock picking is to find the market-beating stocks. But even the best stock picker will only win with some selections. At this point some shareholders may be questioning their investment in PICO Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PICO), since the last five years saw the share price fall 59%. The silver lining is that the stock is up 2.3% in about a week.
See our latest analysis for PICO Holdings
Given that PICO Holdings didn’t make a profit in the last twelve months, we’ll focus on revenue growth to form a quick view of its business development. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.
Over half a decade PICO Holdings reduced its trailing twelve month revenue by 47% for each year. That puts it in an unattractive cohort, to put it mildly. It seems appropriate, then, that the share price slid about 16% annually during that time. It’s fair to say most investors don’t like to invest in loss making companies with falling revenue. You’d want to research this company pretty thoroughly before buying, it looks a bit too risky for us.
The graphic below shows how revenue and earnings have changed as management guided the business forward. If you want to see cashflow, you can click on the chart.
Take a more thorough look at PICO Holdings’s financial health with this free report on its balance sheet.
What about the Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?
We’ve already covered PICO Holdings’s share price action, but we should also mention its total shareholder return (TSR). 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. We note that PICO Holdings’s TSR, at -43% is higher than its share price rise of -59%. When you consider it hasn’t been paying a dividend, this data suggests shareholders may have had the opportunity to acquire attractively priced shares in a discounted capital raising.
A Different Perspective
While the broader market gained around 1.4% in the last year, PICO Holdings shareholders lost 5.4%. 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, longer term shareholders are suffering worse, given the loss of 11% doled out over the last five years. We’d need to see some sustained improvements in the key metrics before we could muster much enthusiasm. Most investors take the time to check the data on insider transactions. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies we expect will grow earnings.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.
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.
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. Thank you for reading.
