The 19% return this week takes EPC Groupe's (EPA:EXPL) shareholders three-year gains to 141%

The most you can lose on any stock (assuming you don't use leverage) is 100% of your money. But if you buy shares in a really great company, you can more than double your money. For instance the EPC Groupe (EPA:EXPL) share price is 138% higher than it was three years ago. How nice for those who held the stock! On top of that, the share price is up 26% in about a quarter.

Since it's been a strong week for EPC Groupe shareholders, let's have a look at trend of the longer term fundamentals.

See our latest analysis for EPC Groupe

While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. 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.

EPC Groupe became profitable within the last three years. That kind of transition can be an inflection point that justifies a strong share price gain, just as we have seen here.

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

Dive deeper into EPC Groupe's key metrics by checking this interactive graph of EPC Groupe's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What About The Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?

Investors should note that there's a difference between EPC Groupe's total shareholder return (TSR) and its share price change, which we've covered above. 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. EPC Groupe's TSR of 141% for the 3 years exceeded its share price return, because it has paid dividends.

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that EPC Groupe has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 53% in the last twelve months. That's better than the annualised return of 11% 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. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand EPC Groupe better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for EPC Groupe that you should be aware of before investing here.

Of course EPC Groupe may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.

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.