Yahoo Finance Earnings are growing at Travel + Leisure (NYSE:TNL) but shareholders still don't like its prospects
In order to justify the effort of selecting individual stocks, it's worth striving to beat the returns from a market index fund. But the main game is to find enough winners to more than offset the losers So we wouldn't blame long term Travel + Leisure Co. (NYSE:TNL) shareholders for doubting their decision to hold, with the stock down 66% over a half decade. And we doubt long term believers are the only worried holders, since the stock price has declined 37% over the last twelve months. The falls have accelerated recently, with the share price down 18% in the last three months. Of course, this share price action may well have been influenced by the 8.7% decline in the broader market, throughout the period.
Given the past week has been tough on shareholders, let's investigate the fundamentals and see what we can learn.
View our latest analysis for Travel + Leisure
While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. 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.
While the share price declined over five years, Travel + Leisure actually managed to increase EPS by an average of 10% per year. Given the share price reaction, one might suspect that EPS is not a good guide to the business performance during the period (perhaps due to a one-off loss or gain). Alternatively, growth expectations may have been unreasonable in the past.
Because of the sharp contrast between the EPS growth rate and the share price growth, we're inclined to look to other metrics to understand the changing market sentiment around the stock.
We note that the dividend has fallen in the last five years, so that may have contributed to the share price decline. The revenue decline of about 6.3% per year might also encourage sellers.
The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).
We know that Travel + Leisure has improved its bottom line lately, but what does the future have in store? This free report showing analyst forecasts should help you form a view on Travel + Leisure
What About Dividends?
It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. 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. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. In the case of Travel + Leisure, it has a TSR of -9.3% for the last 5 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!
A Different Perspective
We regret to report that Travel + Leisure shareholders are down 34% for the year (even including dividends). Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 24%. Having said that, it's inevitable that some stocks will be oversold in a falling market. The key is to keep your eyes on the fundamental developments. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 1.8% over the last half decade. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Travel + Leisure better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Travel + Leisure (1 shouldn't be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing here.
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 US exchanges.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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.
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