Shareholders of Apex International (TPE:4927) Must Be Delighted With Their 349% Total Return

For us, stock picking is in large part the hunt for the truly magnificent stocks. But when you hold the right stock for the right time period, the rewards can be truly huge. For example, the Apex International Co., Ltd. (TPE:4927) share price is up a whopping 313% in the last three years, a handsome return for long term holders. The last week saw the share price soften some 4.9%.

View our latest analysis for Apex International

To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. 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.

Apex International was able to grow its EPS at 289% per year over three years, sending the share price higher. The average annual share price increase of 60% is actually lower than the EPS growth. Therefore, it seems the market has moderated its expectations for growth, somewhat.

You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

It is of course excellent to see how Apex International has grown profits over the years, but the future is more important for shareholders. If you are thinking of buying or selling Apex International stock, you should check out this FREE detailed report on its balance sheet.

What About Dividends?

As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. As it happens, Apex International's TSR for the last 3 years was 349%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Apex International has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 88% in the last twelve months. And that does include the dividend. Since the one-year TSR is better than the five-year TSR (the latter coming in at 19% per year), it would seem that the stock's performance has improved in recent times. In the best case scenario, this may hint at some real business momentum, implying that now could be a great time to delve deeper. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Apex International better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Apex International you should know about.

For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

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