Ahn-Gook Pharmaceutical (KOSDAQ:001540) Shareholders Booked A 29% Gain In The Last Year

We believe investing is smart because history shows that stock markets go higher in the long term. But if you choose that path, you're going to buy some stocks that fall short of the market. For example, the Ahn-Gook Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (KOSDAQ:001540), share price is up over the last year, but its gain of 29% trails the market return. Zooming out, the stock is actually down 17% in the last three years.

View our latest analysis for Ahn-Gook Pharmaceutical

To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. 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 the last year Ahn-Gook Pharmaceutical saw its earnings per share (EPS) drop below zero. While this may prove temporary, we'd consider it a negative, so we would not have expected to see the share price up. It may be that the company has done well on other metrics.

We doubt the modest 1.7% dividend yield is doing much to support the share price. Unfortunately Ahn-Gook Pharmaceutical's fell 6.5% over twelve months. So the fundamental metrics don't provide an obvious explanation for the share price gain.

You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

This free interactive report on Ahn-Gook Pharmaceutical's balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

What About Dividends?

As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). 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. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. We note that for Ahn-Gook Pharmaceutical the TSR over the last year was 32%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

Ahn-Gook Pharmaceutical provided a TSR of 32% over the last twelve months. Unfortunately this falls short of the market return. On the bright side, that's still a gain, and it is certainly better than the yearly loss of about 3% endured over half a decade. So this might be a sign the business has turned its fortunes around. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Ahn-Gook Pharmaceutical better, we need to consider many other factors. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Ahn-Gook Pharmaceutical (of which 1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) you should know about.

We will like Ahn-Gook Pharmaceutical 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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