How Much Did S-1's(KRX:012750) Shareholders Earn From Share Price Movements Over The Last Three Years?

As an investor its worth striving to ensure your overall portfolio beats the market average. But its virtually certain that sometimes you will buy stocks that fall short of the market average returns. We regret to report that long term S-1 Corporation (KRX:012750) shareholders have had that experience, with the share price dropping 16% in three years, versus a market return of about 9.5%. It's down 17% in about a quarter.

Check out our latest analysis for S-1

There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. 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.

Although the share price is down over three years, S-1 actually managed to grow EPS by 2.1% per year in that time. Given the share price reaction, one might suspect that EPS is not a good guide to the business performance during the period (perhaps due to a one-off loss or gain). Alternatively, growth expectations may have been unreasonable in the past.

It looks to us like the market was probably too optimistic around growth three years ago. But it's possible a look at other metrics will be enlightening.

We note that, in three years, revenue has actually grown at a 5.1% annual rate, so that doesn't seem to be a reason to sell shares. It's probably worth investigating S-1 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).

We know that S-1 has improved its bottom line lately, but what does the future have in store? So it makes a lot of sense to check out what analysts think S-1 will earn in the future (free profit forecasts).

What About Dividends?

As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). 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. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. We note that for S-1 the TSR over the last 3 years was -9.0%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

Investors in S-1 had a tough year, with a total loss of 11% (including dividends), against a market gain of about 22%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 0.5% over the last half decade. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. Importantly, we haven't analysed S-1's dividend history. This free visual report on its dividends is a must-read if you're thinking of buying.

We will like S-1 better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies 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 KR 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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