Investors Who Bought Ampco-Pittsburgh (NYSE:AP) Shares A Year Ago Are Now Up 124%

Unfortunately, investing is risky - companies can and do go bankrupt. But when you pick a company that is really flourishing, you can make more than 100%. For example, the Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation (NYSE:AP) share price has soared 124% return in just a single year. It's also good to see the share price up 51% over the last quarter. On the other hand, longer term shareholders have had a tougher run, with the stock falling 52% in three years.

See our latest analysis for Ampco-Pittsburgh

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 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.

Ampco-Pittsburgh went from making a loss to reporting a profit, in the last year.

The result looks like a strong improvement to us, so we're not surprised the market likes the growth. Inflection points like this can be a great time to take a closer look at a company.

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

It is of course excellent to see how Ampco-Pittsburgh has grown profits over the years, but the future is more important for shareholders. Take a more thorough look at Ampco-Pittsburgh's financial health with this free report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Ampco-Pittsburgh has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 124% in the last twelve months. There's no doubt those recent returns are much better than the TSR loss of 5% per year over five years. This makes us a little wary, but the business might have turned around its fortunes. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 3 warning signs with Ampco-Pittsburgh (at least 1 which makes us a bit uncomfortable) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

We will like Ampco-Pittsburgh better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

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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