Does Paul Hartmann's (FRA:PHH2) Share Price Gain of 29% Match Its Business Performance?

The simplest way to invest in stocks is to buy exchange traded funds. But if you pick the right individual stocks, you could make more than that. For example, the Paul Hartmann AG (FRA:PHH2) share price is up 29% in the last year, clearly besting the market return of around 10% (not including dividends). That's a solid performance by our standards! However, the longer term returns haven't been so impressive, with the stock up just 1.6% in the last three years.

View our latest analysis for Paul Hartmann

In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. 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.

Paul Hartmann was able to grow EPS by 25% in the last twelve months. This EPS growth is reasonably close to the 29% increase in the share price. That suggests that the market sentiment around the company hasn't changed much over that time. It looks like the share price is responding to the EPS.

You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

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

What About Dividends?

It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. 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 Paul Hartmann the TSR over the last year was 32%, 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

We're pleased to report that Paul Hartmann shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 32% over one year. And that does include the dividend. That's better than the annualised return of 1.0% over half a decade, implying that the company is doing better recently. Someone with an optimistic perspective could view the recent improvement in TSR as indicating that the business itself is getting better with time. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Take risks, for example - Paul Hartmann has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

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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