Yahoo Finance The St. Modwen Properties (LON:SMP) Share Price Is Up 34% And Shareholders Are Holding On
Stock pickers are generally looking for stocks that will outperform the broader market. And the truth is, you can make significant gains if you buy good quality businesses at the right price. For example, long term St. Modwen Properties PLC (LON:SMP) shareholders have enjoyed a 34% share price rise over the last half decade, well in excess of the market return of around 16% (not including dividends). However, more recent returns haven't been as impressive as that, with the stock returning just 8.6% in the last year , including dividends .
View our latest analysis for St. Modwen Properties
In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. 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.
During five years of share price growth, St. Modwen Properties actually saw its EPS drop 53% per year.
Essentially, it doesn't seem likely that investors are focused on EPS. Because earnings per share don't seem to match up with the share price, we'll take a look at other metrics instead.
The modest 1.2% dividend yield is unlikely to be propping up the share price. In contrast revenue growth of 7.3% per year is probably viewed as evidence that St. Modwen Properties is growing, a real positive. It's quite possible that management are prioritizing revenue growth over EPS growth at the moment.
The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).
We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Even so, future earnings will be far more important to whether current shareholders make money. If you are thinking of buying or selling St. Modwen Properties stock, you should check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.
What About Dividends?
It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. In the case of St. Modwen Properties, it has a TSR of 44% 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
St. Modwen Properties shareholders are up 8.6% for the year (even including dividends). But that return falls short of the market. On the bright side, that's still a gain, and it's actually better than the average return of 8% over half a decade It is possible that returns will improve along with the business fundamentals. It is all well and good that insiders have been buying shares, but we suggest you check here to see what price insiders were buying at.
St. Modwen Properties 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 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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