Swire Properties'(HKG:1972) Share Price Is Down 11% Over The Past Year.

While not a mind-blowing move, it is good to see that the Swire Properties Limited (HKG:1972) share price has gained 15% in the last three months. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last year have been less than pleasing. The cold reality is that the stock has dropped 11% in one year, under-performing the market.

Check out our latest analysis for Swire Properties

To quote Buffett, 'Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace...' 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.

Unhappily, Swire Properties had to report a 67% decline in EPS over the last year. This fall in the EPS is significantly worse than the 11% the share price fall. So despite the weak per-share profits, some investors are probably relieved the situation wasn't more difficult.

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

This free interactive report on Swire Properties' earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

What About Dividends?

As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). 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. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. As it happens, Swire Properties' TSR for the last year was -7.1%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

Swire Properties shareholders are down 7.1% for the year (even including dividends), but the market itself is up 6.2%. 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. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 4%, each year, over five years. If the fundamental data continues to indicate long term sustainable growth, the current sell-off could be an opportunity worth considering. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For instance, we've identified 4 warning signs for Swire Properties (1 is concerning) that you should be aware of.

For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

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