When you buy shares in a company, it's worth keeping in mind the possibility that it could fail, and you could lose your money. But on a lighter note, a good company can see its share price rise well over 100%. For instance, the price of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) stock is up an impressive 221% over the last five years. It's down 4.0% in the last seven days.

Although Meritage Homes has shed US$258m from its market cap this week, let's take a look at its longer term fundamental trends and see if they've driven returns.

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. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.

Over half a decade, Meritage Homes managed to grow its earnings per share at 33% a year. The EPS growth is more impressive than the yearly share price gain of 26% over the same period. So one could conclude that the broader market has become more cautious towards the stock. The reasonably low P/E ratio of 7.75 also suggests market apprehension.

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

This free interactive report on Meritage Homes' earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

What About Dividends?

As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. As it happens, Meritage Homes' TSR for the last 5 years was 225%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

A Different Perspective

It's nice to see that Meritage Homes shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 32% over the last year. Of course, that includes the dividend. That gain is better than the annual TSR over five years, which is 27%. Therefore it seems like sentiment around the company has been positive lately. In the best case scenario, this may hint at some real business momentum, implying that now could be a great time to delve deeper. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Meritage Homes better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that Meritage Homes is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those is a bit unpleasant...

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of companies that have proven they can 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.