Recent 15% pullback isn't enough to hurt long-term Citi Trends (NASDAQ:CTRN) shareholders, they're still up 42% over 5 years

While Citi Trends, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTRN) shareholders are probably generally happy, the stock hasn't had particularly good run recently, with the share price falling 19% in the last quarter. But the silver lining is the stock is up over five years. Unfortunately its return of 42% is below the market return of 137%. Unfortunately not all shareholders will have held it for the long term, so spare a thought for those caught in the 33% decline over the last twelve months.

Since the long term performance has been good but there's been a recent pullback of 15%, let's check if the fundamentals match the share price.

View our latest analysis for Citi Trends

Given that Citi Trends didn't make a profit in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue growth to form a quick view of its business development. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally hope to see good revenue growth. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.

In the last 5 years Citi Trends saw its revenue shrink by 1.0% per year. The stock is only up 7% for each year during the period. That's pretty decent given the top line decline, and lack of profits. Of course, a closer look at the bottom line - and any available analyst forecasts - could reveal an opportunity (if they point to future growth).

The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Having said that, most people consider earnings and revenue growth trends to be a more meaningful guide to the business. This free report showing analyst forecasts should help you form a view on Citi Trends

A Different Perspective

Citi Trends shareholders are down 33% for the year, but the market itself is up 8.5%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. On the bright side, long term shareholders have made money, with a gain of 7% per year over half a decade. It could be that the recent sell-off is an opportunity, so it may be worth checking the fundamental data for signs of a long term growth trend. If you want to research this stock further, the data on insider buying is an obvious place to start. You can click here to see who has been buying shares - and the price they paid.

Citi Trends 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.