If EPS Growth Is Important To You, Sopra Steria Group (EPA:SOP) Presents An Opportunity

For beginners, it can seem like a good idea (and an exciting prospect) to buy a company that tells a good story to investors, even if it currently lacks a track record of revenue and profit. But as Peter Lynch said in One Up On Wall Street, 'Long shots almost never pay off.' While a well funded company may sustain losses for years, it will need to generate a profit eventually, or else investors will move on and the company will wither away.

In contrast to all that, many investors prefer to focus on companies like Sopra Steria Group (EPA:SOP), which has not only revenues, but also profits. While profit isn't the sole metric that should be considered when investing, it's worth recognising businesses that can consistently produce it.

See our latest analysis for Sopra Steria Group

How Fast Is Sopra Steria Group Growing?

If you believe that markets are even vaguely efficient, then over the long term you'd expect a company's share price to follow its earnings per share (EPS) outcomes. That makes EPS growth an attractive quality for any company. We can see that in the last three years Sopra Steria Group grew its EPS by 13% per year. That's a pretty good rate, if the company can sustain it.

Careful consideration of revenue growth and earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) margins can help inform a view on the sustainability of the recent profit growth. While we note Sopra Steria Group achieved similar EBIT margins to last year, revenue grew by a solid 11% to €4.9b. That's a real positive.

You can take a look at the company's revenue and earnings growth trend, in the chart below. To see the actual numbers, click on the chart.

Of course the knack is to find stocks that have their best days in the future, not in the past. You could base your opinion on past performance, of course, but you may also want to check this interactive graph of professional analyst EPS forecasts for Sopra Steria Group.

Are Sopra Steria Group Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

It's pleasing to see company leaders with putting their money on the line, so to speak, because it increases alignment of incentives between the people running the business, and its true owners. Sopra Steria Group followers will find comfort in knowing that insiders have a significant amount of capital that aligns their best interests with the wider shareholder group. With a whopping €58m worth of shares as a group, insiders have plenty riding on the company's success. This would indicate that the goals of shareholders and management are one and the same.

Should You Add Sopra Steria Group To Your Watchlist?

As previously touched on, Sopra Steria Group is a growing business, which is encouraging. To add an extra spark to the fire, significant insider ownership in the company is another highlight. The combination definitely favoured by investors so consider keeping the company on a watchlist. Even so, be aware that Sopra Steria Group is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

The beauty of investing is that you can invest in almost any company you want. But if you prefer to focus on stocks that have demonstrated insider buying, here is a list of companies with insider buying in the last three months.

Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction.

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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.