Would Shareholders Who Purchased United Internet's (ETR:UTDI) Stock Three Years Be Happy With The Share price Today?

As an investor its worth striving to ensure your overall portfolio beats the market average. But in any portfolio, there are likely to be some stocks that fall short of that benchmark. We regret to report that long term United Internet AG (ETR:UTDI) shareholders have had that experience, with the share price dropping 42% in three years, versus a market decline of about 3.4%.

See our latest analysis for United Internet

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

During the three years that the share price fell, United Internet's earnings per share (EPS) dropped by 15% each year. This change in EPS is reasonably close to the 16% average annual decrease in the share price. That suggests that the market sentiment around the company hasn't changed much over that time, despite the disappointment. Rather, the share price has approximately tracked EPS growth.

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 United Internet's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

A Different Perspective

It's nice to see that United Internet shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 18% over the last year. That's including the dividend. That certainly beats the loss of about 4% per year over the last half decade. 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 United Internet better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that United Internet 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 growing 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 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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