The three-year underlying earnings growth at China Resources Land (HKG:1109) is promising, but the shareholders are still in the red over that time

While not a mind-blowing move, it is good to see that the China Resources Land Limited (HKG:1109) share price has gained 25% in the last three months. If you look at the last three years, the stock price is down. But that's not so bad when you consider its market is down 18%.

If the past week is anything to go by, investor sentiment for China Resources Land isn't positive, so let's see if there's a mismatch between fundamentals and the share price.

See our latest analysis for China Resources Land

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 way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

During the unfortunate three years of share price decline, China Resources Land actually saw its earnings per share (EPS) improve by 1.7% per year. Given the share price reaction, one might suspect that EPS is not a good guide to the business performance during the period (perhaps due to a one-off loss or gain). Or else the company was over-hyped in the past, and so its growth has disappointed.

It's pretty reasonable to suspect the market was previously to bullish on the stock, and has since moderated expectations. Looking to other metrics might better explain the share price change.

We note that the dividend seems healthy enough, so that probably doesn't explain the share price drop. We like that China Resources Land has actually grown its revenue over the last three years. If the company can keep growing revenue, there may be an opportunity for investors. You might have to dig deeper to understand the recent share price weakness.

You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

China Resources Land is a well known stock, with plenty of analyst coverage, suggesting some visibility into future growth. So we recommend checking out this free report showing consensus forecasts

What About Dividends?

It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. In the case of China Resources Land, it has a TSR of -4.9% for the last 3 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

China Resources Land shareholders gained a total return of 7.7% during the year. Unfortunately this falls short of the market return. The silver lining is that the gain was actually better than the average annual return of 3% per year over five year. It is possible that returns will improve along with the business fundamentals. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand China Resources Land better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that China Resources Land is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those is a bit unpleasant...

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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.