ByggPartner Gruppen (STO:BYGGP investor three-year losses grow to 71% as the stock sheds kr63m this past week

ByggPartner Gruppen AB (publ) (STO:BYGGP) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 10% in the last quarter. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last three years have been stomach churning. In that time the share price has melted like a snowball in the desert, down 80%. So it's about time shareholders saw some gains. The thing to think about is whether the business has really turned around. We really hope anyone holding through that price crash has a diversified portfolio. Even when you lose money, you don't have to lose the lesson.

After losing 10% this past week, it's worth investigating the company's fundamentals to see what we can infer from past performance.

See our latest analysis for ByggPartner Gruppen

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 way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

Over the three years that the share price declined, ByggPartner Gruppen's earnings per share (EPS) dropped significantly, 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 image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

Dive deeper into ByggPartner Gruppen's key metrics by checking this interactive graph of ByggPartner Gruppen's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What About The Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?

We'd be remiss not to mention the difference between ByggPartner Gruppen's total shareholder return (TSR) and its share price return. Arguably the TSR is a more complete return calculation because it accounts for the value of dividends (as if they were reinvested), along with the hypothetical value of any discounted capital that have been offered to shareholders. Dividends have been really beneficial for ByggPartner Gruppen shareholders, and that cash payout explains why its total shareholder loss of 71%, over the last 3 years, isn't as bad as the share price return.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 2.1% in the last year, ByggPartner Gruppen shareholders lost 42%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 7% per year over five years. 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. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand ByggPartner Gruppen better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for ByggPartner Gruppen you should be aware of, and 3 of them are a bit concerning.

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