Capital Clean Energy Carriers (NASDAQ:CCEC) delivers shareholders solid 17% CAGR over 5 years, surging 3.0% in the last week alone

If you buy and hold a stock for many years, you'd hope to be making a profit. Better yet, you'd like to see the share price move up more than the market average. Unfortunately for shareholders, while the Capital Clean Energy Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:CCEC) share price is up 64% in the last five years, that's less than the market return. But if you include dividends then the return is market-beating. Zooming in, the stock is up a respectable 16% in the last year.

The past week has proven to be lucrative for Capital Clean Energy Carriers investors, so let's see if fundamentals drove the company's five-year performance.

View our latest analysis for Capital Clean Energy Carriers

In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. 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.

During the last half decade, Capital Clean Energy Carriers became profitable. That's generally thought to be a genuine positive, so investors may expect to see an increasing share price.

The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

Dive deeper into Capital Clean Energy Carriers' key metrics by checking this interactive graph of Capital Clean Energy Carriers's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. As it happens, Capital Clean Energy Carriers' TSR for the last 5 years was 116%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!

A Different Perspective

Capital Clean Energy Carriers shareholders gained a total return of 21% during the year. But that was short of the market average. On the bright side, that's still a gain, and it's actually better than the average return of 17% over half a decade It is possible that returns will improve along with the business fundamentals. 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. Case in point: We've spotted 5 warning signs for Capital Clean Energy Carriers you should be aware of, and 3 of them can't be ignored.

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of undervalued small caps 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 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.