Those who invested in Grand City Properties (ETR:GYC) a year ago are up 45%

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. To wit, the Grand City Properties S.A. (ETR:GYC) share price is 45% higher than it was a year ago, much better than the market return of around 16% (not including dividends) in the same period. That's a solid performance by our standards! On the other hand, longer term shareholders have had a tougher run, with the stock falling 45% in three years.

So let's assess the underlying fundamentals over the last 1 year and see if they've moved in lock-step with shareholder returns.

View our latest analysis for Grand City Properties

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just 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.

Grand City Properties was able to grow EPS by 37% in the last twelve months. Though we do note extraordinary items affected the bottom line. We note that the earnings per share growth isn't far from the share price growth (of 45%). This makes us think the market hasn't really changed its sentiment around the company, in the last year. We don't think its coincidental that the share price is growing at a similar rate to the earnings per share.

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

We know that Grand City Properties has improved its bottom line lately, but is it going to grow revenue? Check if analysts think Grand City Properties will grow revenue in the future.

A Different Perspective

It's nice to see that Grand City Properties shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 45% over the last year. There's no doubt those recent returns are much better than the TSR loss of 6% per year over five years. This makes us a little wary, but the business might have turned around its fortunes. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Grand City Properties better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that Grand City Properties is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

For those who like to find winning investments this free list of undervalued companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

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