It's nice to see the Haitong Unitrust International Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. (HKG:1905) share price up 14% in a week. But if you look at the last five years the returns have not been good. After all, the share price is down 44% in that time, significantly under-performing the market.

The recent uptick of 14% could be a positive sign of things to come, so let's take a look at historical fundamentals.

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. 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.

Looking back five years, both Haitong Unitrust International Financial Leasing's share price and EPS declined; the latter at a rate of 0.2% per year. This reduction in EPS is less than the 11% annual reduction in the share price. This implies that the market was previously too optimistic about the stock. The less favorable sentiment is reflected in its current P/E ratio of 4.51.

The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

This free interactive report on Haitong Unitrust International Financial Leasing's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

What About Dividends?

It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. In the case of Haitong Unitrust International Financial Leasing, it has a TSR of -3.7% 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

Haitong Unitrust International Financial Leasing shareholders are up 14% 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 is certainly better than the yearly loss of about 0.7% endured over half a decade. It could well be that the business is stabilizing. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Haitong Unitrust International Financial Leasing you should know about.

We will like Haitong Unitrust International Financial Leasing better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued stocks (mostly small caps) 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 Hong Kong 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.