Investors in WOORIM POWER TRAIN SOLUTION (KOSDAQ:101170) from three years ago are still down 8.9%, even after 17% gain this past week

This week we saw the WOORIM POWER TRAIN SOLUTION Co., Ltd. (KOSDAQ:101170) share price climb by 17%. But that cannot eclipse the less-than-impressive returns over the last three years. In fact, the share price is down 12% in the last three years, falling well short of the market return.

While the last three years has been tough for WOORIM POWER TRAIN SOLUTION shareholders, this past week has shown signs of promise. So let's look at the longer term fundamentals and see if they've been the driver of the negative returns.

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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 imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.

WOORIM POWER TRAIN SOLUTION saw its share price decline over the three years in which its EPS also dropped, falling to a loss. Since the company has fallen to a loss making position, it's hard to compare the change in EPS with the share price change. But it's safe to say we'd generally expect the share price to be lower as a result!

The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

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. 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. We note that for WOORIM POWER TRAIN SOLUTION the TSR over the last 3 years was -8.9%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

A Different Perspective

WOORIM POWER TRAIN SOLUTION shareholders are up 7.7% for the year (even including dividends). Unfortunately this falls short of the market return. The silver lining is that the gain was actually better than the average annual return of 4% per year over five year. This suggests the company might be improving over time. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand WOORIM POWER TRAIN SOLUTION better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that WOORIM POWER TRAIN SOLUTION is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

We will like WOORIM POWER TRAIN SOLUTION better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued stocks (mostly small caps) with considerable, recent, insider buying.

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