Rogers (NYSE:ROG) stock falls 4.5% in past week as three-year earnings and shareholder returns continue downward trend

For many investors, the main point of stock picking is to generate higher returns than the overall market. But in any portfolio, there are likely to be some stocks that fall short of that benchmark. Unfortunately, that's been the case for longer term Rogers Corporation (NYSE:ROG) shareholders, since the share price is down 50% in the last three years, falling well short of the market return of around 16%. And the ride hasn't got any smoother in recent times over the last year, with the price 25% lower in that time. Furthermore, it's down 13% in about a quarter. That's not much fun for holders.

After losing 4.5% this past week, it's worth investigating the company's fundamentals to see what we can infer from past performance.

View our latest analysis for Rogers

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.

Rogers saw its EPS decline at a compound rate of 11% per year, over the last three years. This reduction in EPS is slower than the 21% annual reduction in the share price. So it's likely that the EPS decline has disappointed the market, leaving investors hesitant to buy.

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

This free interactive report on Rogers' earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 23% in the last year, Rogers shareholders lost 25%. 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. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 5% per year over five years. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Rogers better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that Rogers is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...

Of course Rogers may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.

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.