MaxiPARTS (ASX:MXI) investors are sitting on a loss of 22% if they invested five years ago
Ideally, your overall portfolio should beat the market average. But every investor is virtually certain to have both over-performing and under-performing stocks. So we wouldn't blame long term MaxiPARTS Limited (ASX:MXI) shareholders for doubting their decision to hold, with the stock down 41% over a half decade. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 27% in the last 90 days.
Now let's have a look at the company's fundamentals, and see if the long term shareholder return has matched the performance of the underlying business.
Check out our latest analysis for MaxiPARTS
While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.
Looking back five years, both MaxiPARTS' share price and EPS declined; the latter at a rate of 0.9% per year. This reduction in EPS is less than the 10% annual reduction in the share price. So it seems the market was too confident about the business, in the past.
You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).
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 MaxiPARTS' earnings, revenue and cash flow.
What about the Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?
We've already covered MaxiPARTS' 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. MaxiPARTS' TSR of was a loss of 22% for the 5 years. That wasn't as bad as its share price return, because it has paid dividends.
A Different Perspective
We're pleased to report that MaxiPARTS shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 30% over one year. That certainly beats the loss of about 4% per year over the last half decade. This makes us a little wary, but the business might have turned around its fortunes. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. To that end, you should learn about the 5 warning signs we've spotted with MaxiPARTS (including 1 which is a bit unpleasant) .
MaxiPARTS is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on AU 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.
