These days it's easy to simply buy an index fund, and your returns should (roughly) match the market. But you can do a lot better than that by buying good quality businesses for attractive prices. For example, the Gibraltar Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROCK) share price is up 85% in the last five years, slightly above the market return. Zooming in, the stock is up a respectable 19% in the last year.

Since the long term performance has been good but there's been a recent pullback of 3.2%, let's check if the fundamentals match the share price.

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).

Over half a decade, Gibraltar Industries managed to grow its earnings per share at 14% a year. So the EPS growth rate is rather close to the annualized share price gain of 13% per year. Therefore one could conclude that sentiment towards the shares hasn't morphed very much. In fact, the share price seems to largely reflect the EPS growth.

You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

We know that Gibraltar Industries has improved its bottom line lately, but is it going to grow revenue? This free report showing analyst revenue forecasts should help you figure out if the EPS growth can be sustained.

A Different Perspective

Gibraltar Industries shareholders are up 19% for the year. But that was short of the market average. The silver lining is that the gain was actually better than the average annual return of 13% per year over five year. This suggests the company might be improving over time. Before deciding if you like the current share price, check how Gibraltar Industries scores on these 3 valuation metrics.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies we expect will grow earnings.

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