BOE Varitronix (HKG:710) Shareholders Received A Total Return Of Negative 23% In The Last Five Years

While not a mind-blowing move, it is good to see that the BOE Varitronix Limited (HKG:710) share price has gained 22% in the last three months. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last five years have been less than pleasing. You would have done a lot better buying an index fund, since the stock has dropped 49% in that half decade.

View our latest analysis for BOE Varitronix

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. 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).

Looking back five years, both BOE Varitronix's share price and EPS declined; the latter at a rate of 51% per year. This fall in the EPS is worse than the 13% compound annual share price fall. The relatively muted share price reaction might be because the market expects the business to turn around. The high P/E ratio of 76.20 suggests that shareholders believe earnings will grow in the years ahead.

The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

Before buying or selling a stock, we always recommend a close examination of historic growth trends, available here.

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. 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. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. In the case of BOE Varitronix, it has a TSR of -23% for the last 5 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

It's nice to see that BOE Varitronix shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 44% over the last year. That's including the dividend. Notably the five-year annualised TSR loss of 4% per year compares very unfavourably with the recent share price performance. We generally put more weight on the long term performance over the short term, but the recent improvement could hint at a (positive) inflection point within the business. 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. Even so, be aware that BOE Varitronix is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

Of course BOE Varitronix may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.

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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