While it may not be enough for some shareholders, we think it is good to see the Spindex Industries Limited (SGX:564) share price up 13% in a single quarter. But that doesn't help the fact that the three year return is less impressive. In fact, the share price is down 23% in the last three years, falling well short of the market return.
With that in mind, it's worth seeing if the company's underlying fundamentals have been the driver of long term performance, or if there are some discrepancies.
See our latest analysis for Spindex Industries
There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.
During the three years that the share price fell, Spindex Industries' earnings per share (EPS) dropped by 9.9% each year. This fall in EPS isn't far from the rate of share price decline, which was 8% per year. That suggests that the market sentiment around the company hasn't changed much over that time, despite the disappointment. It seems like the share price is reflecting the declining earnings per share.
You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).
It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on Spindex Industries' earnings, revenue and cash flow.
As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. In the case of Spindex Industries, it has a TSR of -17% for the last 3 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!
Spindex Industries shareholders gained a total return of 11% during the year. Unfortunately this falls short of the market return. On the bright side, that's still a gain, and it's actually better than the average return of 2% over half a decade This suggests the company might be improving over time. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Spindex Industries better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that Spindex Industries is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those shouldn't be ignored...
If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of undervalued small caps 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 Singaporean exchanges.