Tourism Finance Corporation of India (NSE:TFCILTD) stock performs better than its underlying earnings growth over last five years

Long term investing can be life changing when you buy and hold the truly great businesses. While not every stock performs well, when investors win, they can win big. To wit, the Tourism Finance Corporation of India Limited (NSE:TFCILTD) share price has soared 736% over five years. This just goes to show the value creation that some businesses can achieve. It's also good to see the share price up 21% over the last quarter. This could be related to the recent financial results, released recently - you can catch up on the most recent data by reading our company report. Anyone who held for that rewarding ride would probably be keen to talk about it.

Since it's been a strong week for Tourism Finance Corporation of India shareholders, let's have a look at trend of the longer term fundamentals.

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While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. 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.

During five years of share price growth, Tourism Finance Corporation of India achieved compound earnings per share (EPS) growth of 4.7% per year. This EPS growth is slower than the share price growth of 53% per year, over the same period. So it's fair to assume the market has a higher opinion of the business than it did five years ago. That's not necessarily surprising considering the five-year track record of earnings growth.

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

We consider it positive that insiders have made significant purchases in the last year. Having said that, most people consider earnings and revenue growth trends to be a more meaningful guide to the business. Dive deeper into the earnings by checking this interactive graph of Tourism Finance Corporation of India's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

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 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. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. In the case of Tourism Finance Corporation of India, it has a TSR of 806% for the last 5 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

It's nice to see that Tourism Finance Corporation of India shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 110% over the last year. Of course, that includes the dividend. That's better than the annualised return of 55% over half a decade, implying that the company is doing better recently. In the best case scenario, this may hint at some real business momentum, implying that now could be a great time to delve deeper. 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. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Tourism Finance Corporation of India (of which 1 doesn't sit too well with us!) you should know about.

Tourism Finance Corporation of India 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 Indian 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.