LVGEM (China) Real Estate Investment (HKG:95) Share Prices Have Dropped 33% In The Last Three Years

For many investors, the main point of stock picking is to generate higher returns than the overall market. But if you try your hand at stock picking, your risk returning less than the market. We regret to report that long term LVGEM (China) Real Estate Investment Company Limited (HKG:95) shareholders have had that experience, with the share price dropping 33% in three years, versus a market decline of about 6.2%. The falls have accelerated recently, with the share price down 10% in the last three months.

See our latest analysis for LVGEM (China) Real Estate Investment

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 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, LVGEM (China) Real Estate Investment actually saw its earnings per share (EPS) improve by 38% per year. This is quite a puzzle, and suggests there might be something temporarily buoying the share price. Alternatively, growth expectations may have been unreasonable in the past.

Since the change in EPS doesn't seem to correlate with the change in share price, it's worth taking a look at other metrics.

We note that, in three years, revenue has actually grown at a 41% annual rate, so that doesn't seem to be a reason to sell shares. It's probably worth investigating LVGEM (China) Real Estate Investment further; while we may be missing something on this analysis, there might also be an opportunity.

The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

It is of course excellent to see how LVGEM (China) Real Estate Investment has grown profits over the years, but the future is more important for shareholders. If you are thinking of buying or selling LVGEM (China) Real Estate Investment stock, you should check out this FREE detailed report on its balance sheet.

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. In the case of LVGEM (China) Real Estate Investment, it has a TSR of -28% for the last 3 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 26% in the last year, LVGEM (China) Real Estate Investment shareholders lost 6.9% (even including dividends). However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 1.5%, each year, over five years. It could be that the recent sell-off is an opportunity, so it may be worth checking the fundamental data for signs of a long term growth trend. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand LVGEM (China) Real Estate Investment better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that LVGEM (China) Real Estate Investment is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those doesn't sit too well with us...

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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 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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