Those Who Purchased Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Shares Five Years Ago Have A 50% Loss To Show For It
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. So we wouldn't blame long term Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS) shareholders for doubting their decision to hold, with the stock down 50% over a half decade. And we doubt long term believers are the only worried holders, since the stock price has declined 28% over the last twelve months. The silver lining is that the stock is up 4.1% in about a week.
View our latest analysis for Natural Gas Services Group
Given that Natural Gas Services Group only made minimal earnings in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue to gauge its business development. As a general rule, we think this kind of company is more comparable to loss-making stocks, since the actual profit is so low. For shareholders to have confidence a company will grow profits significantly, it must grow revenue.
Over half a decade Natural Gas Services Group reduced its trailing twelve month revenue by 9.6% for each year. That's definitely a weaker result than most pre-profit companies report. It seems pretty reasonable to us that the share price dipped 13% per year in that time. We doubt many shareholders are delighted with this share price performance. Risk averse investors probably wouldn't like this one much.
You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).
This free interactive report on Natural Gas Services Group's balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.
A Different Perspective
While the broader market gained around 5.5% in the last year, Natural Gas Services Group shareholders lost 28%. 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. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 13% per year over five years. 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. Before spending more time on Natural Gas Services Group it might be wise to click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling shares.
For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.
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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.
