Korea Asset In Trust's (KRX:123890) Stock Price Has Reduced 30% In The Past Three Years

Korea Asset In Trust Co., Ltd. (KRX:123890) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 13% in the last quarter. But that cannot eclipse the less-than-impressive returns over the last three years. After all, the share price is down 30% in the last three years, significantly under-performing the market.

View our latest analysis for Korea Asset In Trust

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

During the three years that the share price fell, Korea Asset In Trust's earnings per share (EPS) dropped by 0.2% each year. The share price decline of 11% is actually steeper than the EPS slippage. So it's likely that the EPS decline has disappointed the market, leaving investors hesitant to buy. The less favorable sentiment is reflected in its current P/E ratio of 4.29.

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

We know that Korea Asset In Trust has improved its bottom line lately, but is it going to grow revenue? You could check out this free report showing analyst revenue forecasts.

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. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. In the case of Korea Asset In Trust, it has a TSR of -21% for the last 3 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

While the market return was 35% in the last year, Korea Asset In Trust returned 34% to shareholders. Given the three-year TSR of 7% per year, shareholders probably aren't too concerned by the recent gain! It could well be that the business is getting back on track. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Korea Asset In Trust better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should learn about the 4 warning signs we've spotted with Korea Asset In Trust (including 1 which is shouldn't be ignored) .

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

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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