USANA Health Sciences (NYSE:USNA) investors are sitting on a loss of 62% if they invested five years ago
We think intelligent long term investing is the way to go. But unfortunately, some companies simply don't succeed. For example, after five long years the USANA Health Sciences, Inc. (NYSE:USNA) share price is a whole 62% lower. That is extremely sub-optimal, to say the least. The falls have accelerated recently, with the share price down 26% in the last three months. This could be related to the recent financial results - you can catch up on the most recent data by reading our company report.
Now let's have a look at the company's fundamentals, and see if the long term shareholder return has matched the performance of the underlying business.
View our latest analysis for USANA Health Sciences
While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.
Looking back five years, both USANA Health Sciences' share price and EPS declined; the latter at a rate of 3.0% per year. Readers should note that the share price has fallen faster than the EPS, at a rate of 17% per year, over the period. So it seems the market was too confident about the business, in the past.
The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).
We're pleased to report that the CEO is remunerated more modestly than most CEOs at similarly capitalized companies. It's always worth keeping an eye on CEO pay, but a more important question is whether the company will grow earnings throughout the years. This free interactive report on USANA Health Sciences' earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.
A Different Perspective
Investors in USANA Health Sciences had a tough year, with a total loss of 14%, against a market gain of about 14%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Unfortunately, longer term shareholders are suffering worse, given the loss of 10% doled out over the last five years. We would want clear information suggesting the company will grow, before taking the view that the share price will stabilize. 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.
But note: USANA Health Sciences may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with past earnings growth (and further growth forecast).
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on American 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.
