The Warehouses Estates Belgium (EBR:WEB) Share Price Is Down 22% So Some Shareholders Are Getting Worried
Ideally, your overall portfolio should beat the market average. But even in a market-beating portfolio, some stocks will lag the market. The Warehouses Estates Belgium SCA (EBR:WEB) stock price is down 22% over five years, but the total shareholder return is -4.7% once you include the dividend. That's better than the market which returned -29% over the same time. The falls have accelerated recently, with the share price down 15% in the last three months. But this could be related to the weak market, which is down 27% in the same period.
See our latest analysis for Warehouses Estates Belgium
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 Warehouses Estates Belgium's share price and EPS declined; the latter at a rate of 4.1% per year. This change in EPS is reasonably close to the 5.0% average annual decrease in the share price. That suggests that the market sentiment around the company hasn't changed much over that time. So it's fair to say the share price has been responding to changes in EPS.
You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).
It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on Warehouses Estates Belgium's earnings, revenue and cash flow.
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. In the case of Warehouses Estates Belgium, it has a TSR of -4.7% for the last 5 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!
A Different Perspective
While it's never nice to take a loss, Warehouses Estates Belgium shareholders can take comfort that , including dividends, their trailing twelve month loss of 2.5% wasn't as bad as the market loss of around 23%. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it's worse than the annualised loss of 1.0% over the last half decade. While some investors do well specializing in buying companies that are struggling (but nonetheless undervalued), don't forget that Buffett said that 'turnarounds seldom turn'. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. For example, we've discovered 4 warning signs for Warehouses Estates Belgium (1 is significant!) that you should be aware of before investing here.
If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on BE 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.
