Investors Who Bought Mueller Industries (NYSE:MLI) Shares A Year Ago Are Now Up 44%

Mueller Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MLI) shareholders might be concerned after seeing the share price drop 11% in the last quarter. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last year have been pleasing. To wit, it had solidly beat the market, up 44%.

See our latest analysis for Mueller Industries

While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. 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.

Mueller Industries was able to grow EPS by 113% in the last twelve months. This EPS growth is significantly higher than the 44% increase in the share price. So it seems like the market has cooled on Mueller Industries, despite the growth. Interesting. This cautious sentiment is reflected in its (fairly low) P/E ratio of 9.31.

The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

It is of course excellent to see how Mueller Industries has grown profits over the years, but the future is more important for shareholders. You can see how its balance sheet has strengthened (or weakened) over time in this free interactive graphic.

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Mueller Industries has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 46% in the last twelve months. That's including the dividend. That gain is better than the annual TSR over five years, which is 7%. Therefore it seems like sentiment around the company has been positive lately. Someone with an optimistic perspective could view the recent improvement in TSR as indicating that the business itself is getting better with time. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Mueller Industries better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with Mueller Industries , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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 US 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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