HighPeak Energy (NASDAQ:HPK) sheds US$59m, company earnings and investor returns have been trending downwards for past three years

As an investor, mistakes are inevitable. But you have a problem if you face massive losses more than once in a while. So take a moment to sympathize with the long term shareholders of HighPeak Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:HPK), who have seen the share price tank a massive 73% over a three year period. That'd be enough to cause even the strongest minds some disquiet. The more recent news is of little comfort, with the share price down 52% in a year. The falls have accelerated recently, with the share price down 37% in the last three months.

After losing 6.9% this past week, it's worth investigating the company's fundamentals to see what we can infer from past performance.

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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.

HighPeak Energy saw its EPS decline at a compound rate of 4.3% per year, over the last three years. This reduction in EPS is slower than the 36% annual reduction in the share price. So it seems the market was too confident about the business, in the past. This increased caution is also evident in the rather low P/E ratio, which is sitting at 7.30.

You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

We consider it positive that insiders have made significant purchases in the last year. Even so, future earnings will be far more important to whether current shareholders make money. Before buying or selling a stock, we always recommend a close examination of historic growth trends, available here..

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 20% in the last year, HighPeak Energy shareholders lost 51% (even including dividends). However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 9%, each year, over five years. If the fundamental data continues to indicate long term sustainable growth, the current sell-off could be an opportunity worth considering. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand HighPeak Energy better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for HighPeak Energy (2 don't sit too well with us) that you should be aware of.

HighPeak Energy is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of small cap companies at attractive valuations which insiders have been buying.

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