If You Had Bought P.A.M. Transportation Services (NASDAQ:PTSI) Shares Three Years Ago You'd Have Earned 51% Returns

One simple way to benefit from the stock market is to buy an index fund. But if you buy good businesses at attractive prices, your portfolio returns could exceed the average market return. For example, the P.A.M. Transportation Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTSI) share price is up 51% in the last three years, clearly besting the market return of around 36% (not including dividends).

Check out our latest analysis for P.A.M. Transportation Services

There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

Over the last three years, P.A.M. Transportation Services failed to grow earnings per share, which fell 31% (annualized).

So we doubt that the market is looking to EPS for its main judge of the company's value. Since the change in EPS doesn't seem to correlate with the change in share price, it's worth taking a look at other metrics.

It could be that the revenue growth of 6.0% per year is viewed as evidence that P.A.M. Transportation Services is growing. If the company is being managed for the long term good, today's shareholders might be right to hold on.

The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

This free interactive report on P.A.M. Transportation Services' balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

P.A.M. Transportation Services shareholders are down 26% for the year, but the market itself is up 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. On the bright side, long term shareholders have made money, with a gain of 2% 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. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand P.A.M. Transportation Services better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks, for example - P.A.M. Transportation Services has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

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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