Yahoo Finance Reflecting on Bellway's (LON:BWY) Share Price Returns Over The Last Three Years
These days it's easy to simply buy an index fund, and your returns should (roughly) match the market. But in any given year a good portion of stocks will fall short of that. Unfortunately for investors in Bellway p.l.c. (LON:BWY), the share price has slipped 15% in three years, falling short of the marketdecline of 3.8%.
Check out our latest analysis for Bellway
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).
Although the share price is down over three years, Bellway actually managed to grow EPS by 7.3% per year in that time. This is quite a puzzle, and suggests there might be something temporarily buoying the share price. Or else the company was over-hyped in the past, and so its growth has disappointed.
It's worth taking a look at other metrics, because the EPS growth doesn't seem to match with the falling share price.
Revenue is actually up 11% over the three years, so the share price drop doesn't seem to hinge on revenue, either. This analysis is just perfunctory, but it might be worth researching Bellway more closely, as sometimes stocks fall unfairly. This could present an opportunity.
You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).
We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Having said that, most people consider earnings and revenue growth trends to be a more meaningful guide to the business. If you are thinking of buying or selling Bellway stock, you should check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.
What about the Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?
We've already covered Bellway's share price action, but we should also mention its total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR attempts to capture the value of dividends (as if they were reinvested) as well as any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings offered to shareholders. Dividends have been really beneficial for Bellway shareholders, and that cash payout explains why its total shareholder loss of 3.9%, over the last 3 years, isn't as bad as the share price return.
A Different Perspective
Although it hurts that Bellway returned a loss of 7.8% in the last twelve months, the broader market was actually worse, returning a loss of 10%. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 6.8%, each year, over five years. It could be that the business is just facing some short term problems, but shareholders should keep a close eye on the fundamentals. Investors who like to make money usually check up on insider purchases, such as the price paid, and total amount bought. You can find out about the insider purchases of Bellway by clicking this link.
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 GB exchanges.
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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