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Derwent London (LON:DLN) Shareholders Have Enjoyed A 24% Share Price Gain

Generally speaking the aim of active stock picking is to find companies that provide returns that are superior to the market average. Buying under-rated businesses is one path to excess returns. To wit, the Derwent London share price has climbed 24% in five years, easily topping the market return of 2.0% (ignoring dividends). However, more recent returns haven't been as impressive as that, with the stock returning just 10% in the last year, including dividends.

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View our latest analysis for Derwent London

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While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just 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).

Derwent London's earnings per share are down 15% per year, despite strong share price performance over five years. Since the EPS are down strongly, it seems highly unlikely market participants are looking at EPS to value the company. The falling EPS doesn't correlate with the climbing share price, so it's worth taking a look at other metrics.

We doubt the modest 2.0% dividend yield is attracting many buyers to the stock. On the other hand, Derwent London's revenue is growing nicely, at a compound rate of 6.0% over the last five years. It's quite possible that management are prioritizing revenue growth over EPS growth at the moment.

Depicted in the graphic below, you'll see revenue and earnings over time. If you want more detail, you can click on the chart itself.

LSE:DLN Income Statement, May 21st 2019
LSE:DLN Income Statement, May 21st 2019

Balance sheet strength is crucual. It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on how its financial position has changed over time.

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 incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. We note that for Derwent London the TSR over the last 5 years was 41%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

A Different Perspective

It's nice to see that Derwent London shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 10% over the last year. And that does include the dividend. That gain is better than the annual TSR over five years, which is 7.1%. Therefore it seems like sentiment around the company has been positive lately. Someone with an optimistic perspective could view the recent improvement in TSR as indicating that the business itself is getting better with time. If you would like to research Derwent London in more detail then you might want to take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in the company.

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 GB exchanges.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.