Shareholders in Central Asia Metals (LON:CAML) are in the red if they invested a year ago
Investors can approximate the average market return by buying an index fund. While individual stocks can be big winners, plenty more fail to generate satisfactory returns. Investors in Central Asia Metals plc (LON:CAML) have tasted that bitter downside in the last year, as the share price dropped 31%. That falls noticeably short of the market decline of around 1.2%. Zooming out, the stock is down 26% in the last three years. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 19% in the last 90 days.
So let's have a look and see if the longer term performance of the company has been in line with the underlying business' progress.
See our latest analysis for Central Asia Metals
While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. 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.
Unhappily, Central Asia Metals had to report a 99% decline in EPS over the last year. The share price fall of 31% isn't as bad as the reduction in earnings per share. It may have been that the weak EPS was not as bad as some had feared. Indeed, with a P/E ratio of 267.98 there is obviously some real optimism that earnings will bounce back.
The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).
This free interactive report on Central Asia Metals' earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.
What About Dividends?
As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. We note that for Central Asia Metals the TSR over the last 1 year was -25%, 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
Investors in Central Asia Metals had a tough year, with a total loss of 25% (including dividends), against a market gain of about 1.2%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 1.8%, each year, over five years. 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. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Central Asia Metals that you should be aware of.
We will like Central Asia Metals better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on British exchanges.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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.
