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It’s not a secret that every investor will make bad investments, from time to time. But serious investors should think long and hard about avoiding extreme losses. It must have been painful to be a Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBGI) shareholder over the last year, since the stock price plummeted 75% in that time. While some investors are willing to stomach this sort of loss, they are usually professionals who spread their bets thinly. Even if you look out three years, the returns are still disappointing, with the share price down (the share price is down 35%) in that time. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 24% in the last 90 days.
See our latest analysis for Beasley Broadcast Group
There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.
Unfortunately Beasley Broadcast Group reported an EPS drop of 85% for the last year. We note that the 75% share price drop is very close to the EPS drop. So it seems that the market sentiment has not changed much, despite the weak results. Rather, the share price has approximately tracked EPS growth.
The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).
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. Dive deeper into the earnings by checking this interactive graph of Beasley Broadcast Group’s earnings, revenue and cash flow.
What about the Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?
We’ve already covered Beasley Broadcast Group’s share price action, but we should also mention its total shareholder return (TSR). 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. Its history of dividend payouts mean that Beasley Broadcast Group’s TSR, which was a 74% drop over the last year, was not as bad as the share price return.
A Different Perspective
Beasley Broadcast Group shareholders are down 74% for the year (even including dividends), but the market itself is up 3.4%. 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 8.7% 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 is all well and good that insiders have been buying shares, but we suggest you check here to see what price insiders were buying at.
There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.