Further weakness as Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de La Touraine et du Poitou Société Coopérative (EPA:CRTO) drops 11% this week, taking three-year losses to 26%

While it may not be enough for some shareholders, we think it is good to see the Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de La Touraine et du Poitou Société Coopérative (EPA:CRTO) share price up 16% in a single quarter. But that cannot eclipse the less-than-impressive returns over the last three years. In fact, the share price is down 33% in the last three years, falling well short of the market return.

Given the past week has been tough on shareholders, let's investigate the fundamentals and see what we can learn.

Check out our latest analysis for Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de La Touraine et du Poitou Société Coopérative

To quote Buffett, 'Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace...' One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

What About Dividends?

It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. As it happens, Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de La Touraine et du Poitou Société Coopérative's TSR for the last 3 years was -26%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!

A Different Perspective

Investors in Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de La Touraine et du Poitou Société Coopérative had a tough year, with a total loss of 2.5% (including dividends), against a market gain of about 10%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. However, the loss over the last year isn't as bad as the 4% per annum loss investors have suffered over the last half decade. We would want clear information suggesting the company will grow, before taking the view that the share price will stabilize. 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 - Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de La Touraine et du Poitou Société Coopérative has 3 warning signs (and 1 which doesn't sit too well with us) we think you should know about.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies we expect will grow earnings.

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