Harworth Group's(LON:HWG) Share Price Is Down 28% Over The Past Year.

While not a mind-blowing move, it is good to see that the Harworth Group plc (LON:HWG) share price has gained 16% in the last three months. But that doesn't change the reality of under-performance over the last twelve months. After all, the share price is down 28% in the last year, significantly under-performing the market.

Check out our latest analysis for Harworth Group

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

Unfortunately Harworth Group reported an EPS drop of 88% for the last year. This fall in the EPS is significantly worse than the 28% the share price fall. So the market may not be too worried about the EPS figure, at the moment -- or it may have expected earnings to drop faster. With a P/E ratio of 64.06, it's fair to say the market sees an EPS rebound on the cards.

The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Having said that, most people consider earnings and revenue growth trends to be a more meaningful guide to the business. Dive deeper into the earnings by checking this interactive graph of Harworth Group's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

A Different Perspective

We regret to report that Harworth Group shareholders are down 28% for the year (even including dividends). Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 2.5%. However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 1.0% 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. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Harworth Group better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Harworth Group that you should be aware of before investing here.

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are 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. 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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