Should You Be Adding Xinjiang Xintai Natural Gas (SHSE:603393) To Your Watchlist Today?

The excitement of investing in a company that can reverse its fortunes is a big draw for some speculators, so even companies that have no revenue, no profit, and a record of falling short, can manage to find investors. Unfortunately, these high risk investments often have little probability of ever paying off, and many investors pay a price to learn their lesson. Loss-making companies are always racing against time to reach financial sustainability, so investors in these companies may be taking on more risk than they should.

Despite being in the age of tech-stock blue-sky investing, many investors still adopt a more traditional strategy; buying shares in profitable companies like Xinjiang Xintai Natural Gas (SHSE:603393). Now this is not to say that the company presents the best investment opportunity around, but profitability is a key component to success in business.

See our latest analysis for Xinjiang Xintai Natural Gas

Xinjiang Xintai Natural Gas' Earnings Per Share Are Growing

Generally, companies experiencing growth in earnings per share (EPS) should see similar trends in share price. Therefore, there are plenty of investors who like to buy shares in companies that are growing EPS. To the delight of shareholders, Xinjiang Xintai Natural Gas has achieved impressive annual EPS growth of 38%, compound, over the last three years. While that sort of growth rate isn't sustainable for long, it certainly catches the eye of prospective investors.

It's often helpful to take a look at earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margins, as well as revenue growth, to get another take on the quality of the company's growth. The good news is that Xinjiang Xintai Natural Gas is growing revenues, and EBIT margins improved by 4.7 percentage points to 51%, over the last year. That's great to see, on both counts.

You can take a look at the company's revenue and earnings growth trend, in the chart below. For finer detail, click on the image.

Fortunately, we've got access to analyst forecasts of Xinjiang Xintai Natural Gas' future profits. You can do your own forecasts without looking, or you can take a peek at what the professionals are predicting.

Are Xinjiang Xintai Natural Gas Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

Seeing insiders owning a large portion of the shares on issue is often a good sign. Their incentives will be aligned with the investors and there's less of a probability in a sudden sell-off that would impact the share price. So as you can imagine, the fact that Xinjiang Xintai Natural Gas insiders own a significant number of shares certainly is appealing. Indeed, with a collective holding of 51%, company insiders are in control and have plenty of capital behind the venture. Intuition will tell you this is a good sign because it suggests they will be incentivised to build value for shareholders over the long term. At the current share price, that insider holding is worth a staggering CN¥7.4b. This is an incredible endorsement from them.

Is Xinjiang Xintai Natural Gas Worth Keeping An Eye On?

Xinjiang Xintai Natural Gas' earnings per share have been soaring, with growth rates sky high. This level of EPS growth does wonders for attracting investment, and the large insider investment in the company is just the cherry on top. The hope is, of course, that the strong growth marks a fundamental improvement in the business economics. So at the surface level, Xinjiang Xintai Natural Gas is worth putting on your watchlist; after all, shareholders do well when the market underestimates fast growing companies. We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 1 warning sign for Xinjiang Xintai Natural Gas that you need to be mindful of.

While opting for stocks without growing earnings and absent insider buying can yield results, for investors valuing these key metrics, here is a carefully selected list of companies in CN with promising growth potential and insider confidence.

Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction.

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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.