As Zhongzhi Pharmaceutical Holdings (HKG:3737) swells 14% this past week, investors may now be noticing the company's five-year earnings growth

It's nice to see the Zhongzhi Pharmaceutical Holdings Limited (HKG:3737) share price up 14% in a week. But if you look at the last five years the returns have not been good. After all, the share price is down 29% in that time, significantly under-performing the market.

While the last five years has been tough for Zhongzhi Pharmaceutical Holdings shareholders, this past week has shown signs of promise. So let's look at the longer term fundamentals and see if they've been the driver of the negative returns.

View our latest analysis for Zhongzhi Pharmaceutical Holdings

There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. 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.

While the share price declined over five years, Zhongzhi Pharmaceutical Holdings actually managed to increase EPS by an average of 2.0% per year. So it doesn't seem like EPS is a great guide to understanding how the market is valuing the stock. Alternatively, growth expectations may have been unreasonable in the past.

Based on these numbers, we'd venture that the market may have been over-optimistic about forecast growth, half a decade ago. Looking to other metrics might better explain the share price change.

Revenue is actually up 9.8% over the time period. So it seems one might have to take closer look at the fundamentals to understand why the share price languishes. After all, there may be an opportunity.

The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are 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. This free interactive report on Zhongzhi Pharmaceutical Holdings' earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

What About The Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?

We'd be remiss not to mention the difference between Zhongzhi Pharmaceutical Holdings' total shareholder return (TSR) and its share price return. 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. Dividends have been really beneficial for Zhongzhi Pharmaceutical Holdings shareholders, and that cash payout explains why its total shareholder loss of 7.7%, over the last 5 years, isn't as bad as the share price return.

A Different Perspective

Zhongzhi Pharmaceutical Holdings shareholders are down 19% for the year, but the market itself is up 5.6%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 1.5% over the last half decade. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Zhongzhi Pharmaceutical Holdings better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Zhongzhi Pharmaceutical Holdings that you should be aware of before investing here.

Zhongzhi Pharmaceutical Holdings is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of small cap companies at attractive valuations which insiders have been buying.

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