Shanghai Chengtou HoldingLtd (SHSE:600649) earnings and shareholder returns have been trending downwards for the last five years, but the stock advances 6.0% this past week

Ideally, your overall portfolio should beat the market average. But even the best stock picker will only win with some selections. So we wouldn't blame long term Shanghai Chengtou Holding Co.,Ltd (SHSE:600649) shareholders for doubting their decision to hold, with the stock down 46% over a half decade. Even worse, it's down 14% in about a month, which isn't fun at all. We do note, however, that the broader market is down 6.3% in that period, and this may have weighed on the share price.

The recent uptick of 6.0% could be a positive sign of things to come, so let's take a look at historical fundamentals.

See our latest analysis for Shanghai Chengtou HoldingLtd

There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect 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 Shanghai Chengtou HoldingLtd's share price and EPS declined; the latter at a rate of 18% per year. This fall in the EPS is worse than the 12% compound annual share price fall. So investors might expect EPS to bounce back -- or they may have previously foreseen the EPS decline.

The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on Shanghai Chengtou HoldingLtd'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. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. We note that for Shanghai Chengtou HoldingLtd the TSR over the last 5 years was -40%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

A Different Perspective

While it's never nice to take a loss, Shanghai Chengtou HoldingLtd shareholders can take comfort that , including dividends,their trailing twelve month loss of 8.4% wasn't as bad as the market loss of around 16%. What is more upsetting is the 7% per annum loss investors have suffered over the last half decade. This sort of share price action isn't particularly encouraging, but at least the losses are slowing. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Shanghai Chengtou HoldingLtd better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Shanghai Chengtou HoldingLtd (including 1 which is significant) .

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: many of them are unnoticed AND have attractive valuation).

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on Chinese 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com