Shareholders of Lang & Schwarz (ETR:LUS) Must Be Delighted With Their 762% Total Return

Buying shares in the best businesses can build meaningful wealth for you and your family. While the best companies are hard to find, but they can generate massive returns over long periods. For example, the Lang & Schwarz Aktiengesellschaft (ETR:LUS) share price is up a whopping 581% in the last half decade, a handsome return for long term holders. And this is just one example of the epic gains achieved by some long term investors. Also pleasing for shareholders was the 12% gain in the last three months. But this could be related to the strong market, which is up 9.9% in the last three months.

Anyone who held for that rewarding ride would probably be keen to talk about it.

View our latest analysis for Lang & Schwarz

To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. 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.

During five years of share price growth, Lang & Schwarz achieved compound earnings per share (EPS) growth of 22% per year. This EPS growth is lower than the 47% average annual increase in the share price. This suggests that market participants hold the company in higher regard, these days. And that's hardly shocking given the track record of growth.

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

This free interactive report on Lang & Schwarz's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

What about the Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?

We'd be remiss not to mention the difference between Lang & Schwarz's total shareholder return (TSR) and its share price return. 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. Dividends have been really beneficial for Lang & Schwarz shareholders, and that cash payout contributed to why its TSR of 762%, over the last 5 years, is better than the share price return.

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Lang & Schwarz has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 431% in the last twelve months. That's better than the annualised return of 54% over half a decade, implying that the company is doing better recently. In the best case scenario, this may hint at some real business momentum, implying that now could be a great time to delve deeper. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Take risks, for example - Lang & Schwarz has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

But note: Lang & Schwarz may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with past earnings growth (and further growth forecast).

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

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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. 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.
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