James Cropper (LON:CRPR shareholders incur further losses as stock declines 12% this week, taking five-year losses to 54%

Generally speaking long term investing is the way to go. But that doesn't mean long term investors can avoid big losses. For example, after five long years the James Cropper PLC (LON:CRPR) share price is a whole 55% lower. That's not a lot of fun for true believers. And we doubt long term believers are the only worried holders, since the stock price has declined 43% over the last twelve months. Furthermore, it's down 23% in about a quarter. That's not much fun for holders.

After losing 12% this past week, it's worth investigating the company's fundamentals to see what we can infer from past performance.

Check out our latest analysis for James Cropper

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.

In the last half decade James Cropper saw its share price fall as its EPS declined below zero. Since the company has fallen to a loss making position, it's hard to compare the change in EPS with the share price change. But we would generally expect a lower price, given the situation.

You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on James Cropper's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

A Different Perspective

We regret to report that James Cropper shareholders are down 42% for the year (even including dividends). Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 3.4%. Having said that, it's inevitable that some stocks will be oversold in a falling market. The key is to keep your eyes on the fundamental developments. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 9% per year over five years. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with James Cropper .

We will like James Cropper better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

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