Those Who Purchased China High Speed Transmission Equipment Group (HKG:658) Shares Three Years Ago Have A 47% Loss To Show For It

China High Speed Transmission Equipment Group Co., Ltd. (HKG:658) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 12% in the last quarter. But that doesn't help the fact that the three year return is less impressive. Truth be told the share price declined 47% in three years and that return, Dear Reader, falls short of what you could have got from passive investing with an index fund.

Check out our latest analysis for China High Speed Transmission Equipment Group

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 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).

China High Speed Transmission Equipment Group saw its EPS decline at a compound rate of 37% per year, over the last three years. This fall in the EPS is worse than the 19% compound annual share price fall. So the market may not be too worried about the EPS figure, at the moment -- or it may have previously priced some of the drop in.

The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

SEHK:658 Past and Future Earnings, February 19th 2020
SEHK:658 Past and Future Earnings, February 19th 2020

Before buying or selling a stock, we always recommend a close examination of historic growth trends, available here.

What About Dividends?

As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). 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. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. In the case of China High Speed Transmission Equipment Group, it has a TSR of -44% for the last 3 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 China High Speed Transmission Equipment Group shareholders are down 33% for the year (even including dividends) . Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 1.0%. 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. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 1.6%, each year, over five years. It could be that the recent sell-off is an opportunity, so it may be worth checking the fundamental data for signs of a long term growth trend. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand China High Speed Transmission Equipment Group better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with China High Speed Transmission Equipment Group (including 1 which is shouldn't be ignored) .

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 HK exchanges.

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.

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. Thank you for reading.