White Mountains Insurance Group's (NYSE:WTM) investors will be pleased with their decent 78% return over the last three years
By buying an index fund, investors can approximate the average market return. But many of us dare to dream of bigger returns, and build a portfolio ourselves. Just take a look at White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. (NYSE:WTM), which is up 78%, over three years, soundly beating the market return of 16% (not including dividends). However, more recent returns haven't been as impressive as that, with the stock returning just 11% in the last year , including dividends .
So let's assess the underlying fundamentals over the last 3 years and see if they've moved in lock-step with shareholder returns.
Check out our latest analysis for White Mountains Insurance Group
While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).
White Mountains Insurance Group became profitable within the last three years. That would generally be considered a positive, so we'd expect the share price to be up.
The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).
Dive deeper into White Mountains Insurance Group's key metrics by checking this interactive graph of White Mountains Insurance Group's earnings, revenue and cash flow.
A Different Perspective
White Mountains Insurance Group shareholders have received returns of 11% over twelve months (even including dividends), which isn't far from the general market return. We should note here that the five-year TSR is more impressive, at 11% per year. Although the share price growth has slowed, the longer term story points to a business well worth watching. 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.
If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of companies that have proven they can grow earnings.
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.
