Yahoo Finance VZ Holding's (VTX:VZN) investors will be pleased with their splendid 128% return over the last five years
When you buy shares in a company, it's worth keeping in mind the possibility that it could fail, and you could lose your money. But when you pick a company that is really flourishing, you can make more than 100%. For instance, the price of VZ Holding AG (VTX:VZN) stock is up an impressive 108% over the last five years. It's also good to see the share price up 15% over the last quarter. The company reported its financial results recently; you can catch up on the latest numbers by reading our company report.
So let's investigate and see if the longer term performance of the company has been in line with the underlying business' progress.
See our latest analysis for VZ Holding
To quote Buffett, 'Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace...' 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 half a decade, VZ Holding managed to grow its earnings per share at 14% a year. So the EPS growth rate is rather close to the annualized share price gain of 16% per year. This indicates that investor sentiment towards the company has not changed a great deal. Indeed, it would appear the share price is reacting to the EPS.
You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).
We know that VZ Holding has improved its bottom line lately, but is it going to grow revenue? Check if analysts think VZ Holding will grow revenue in the future.
What About Dividends?
As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. As it happens, VZ Holding's TSR for the last 5 years was 128%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!
A Different Perspective
It's nice to see that VZ Holding shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 56% over the last year. And that does include the dividend. That's better than the annualised return of 18% over half a decade, implying that the company is doing better recently. Someone with an optimistic perspective could view the recent improvement in TSR as indicating that the business itself is getting better with time. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand VZ Holding better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for VZ Holding that you should be aware of.
But note: VZ Holding may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with past earnings growth (and further growth forecast).
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on Swiss 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.
