It hasn't been the best quarter for Yunnan Coal & Energy Co.,Ltd. (SHSE:600792) shareholders, since the share price has fallen 13% in that time. While that might be a setback, it doesn't negate the nice returns received over the last twelve months. In that time we've seen the stock easily surpass the market return, with a gain of 24%.

Since the long term performance has been good but there's been a recent pullback of 11%, let's check if the fundamentals match the share price.

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 imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.

Yunnan Coal & EnergyLtd went from making a loss to reporting a profit, in the last year.

When a company has just transitioned to profitability, earnings per share growth is not always the best way to look at the share price action.

Revenue was pretty flat year on year, but maybe a closer look at the data can explain the market optimism.

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're pleased to report that the CEO is remunerated more modestly than most CEOs at similarly capitalized companies. But while CEO remuneration is always worth checking, the really important question is whether the company can grow earnings going forward. Dive deeper into the earnings by checking this interactive graph of Yunnan Coal & EnergyLtd's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Yunnan Coal & EnergyLtd has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 24% in the last twelve months. Notably the five-year annualised TSR loss of 0.9% per year compares very unfavourably with the recent share price performance. This makes us a little wary, but the business might have turned around its fortunes. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Yunnan Coal & EnergyLtd better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Yunnan Coal & EnergyLtd .

We will like Yunnan Coal & EnergyLtd better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on Chinese exchanges.

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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.