Shareholders 13% loss in LAMDA Development (ATH:LAMDA) partly attributable to the company's decline in earnings over past five years

Ideally, your overall portfolio should beat the market average. But if you pick the right individual stocks, you could make more -- or less -- than that. The LAMDA Development S.A. (ATH:LAMDA) share price is down 13% in the last half decade. On the bright side, that's better than the market decline of 24%.

The recent uptick of 4.2% could be a positive sign of things to come, so let's take a look at historical fundamentals.

Check out our latest analysis for LAMDA Development

In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.

Looking back five years, both LAMDA Development's share price and EPS declined; the latter at a rate of 29% per year. This fall in the EPS is worse than the 3% compound annual share price fall. So the market may previously have expected a drop, or else it expects the situation will improve. With a P/E ratio of 68.24, it's fair to say the market sees a brighter future for the business.

The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Even so, future earnings will be far more important to whether current shareholders make money. It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on LAMDA Development's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

A Different Perspective

LAMDA Development shareholders gained a total return of 3.5% during the year. But that return falls short of the market. On the bright side, that's still a gain, and it is certainly better than the yearly loss of about 2% endured over half a decade. So this might be a sign the business has turned its fortunes around. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand LAMDA Development better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that LAMDA Development is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those makes us a bit uncomfortable...

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