Ideally, your overall portfolio should beat the market average. But every investor is virtually certain to have both over-performing and under-performing stocks. At this point some shareholders may be questioning their investment in China Railway Tielong Container Logistics Co., Ltd (SHSE:600125), since the last five years saw the share price fall 21%.

With the stock having lost 4.5% in the past week, it's worth taking a look at business performance and seeing if there's any red flags.

See our latest analysis for China Railway Tielong Container Logistics

To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. 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.

Looking back five years, both China Railway Tielong Container Logistics' share price and EPS declined; the latter at a rate of 1.0% per year. This reduction in EPS is less than the 5% annual reduction in the share price. This implies that the market is more cautious about the business these days.

The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

Dive deeper into China Railway Tielong Container Logistics' key metrics by checking this interactive graph of China Railway Tielong Container Logistics's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

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. 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 Railway Tielong Container Logistics, it has a TSR of -14% for the last 5 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that China Railway Tielong Container Logistics has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 12% in the last twelve months. Of course, that includes the dividend. That certainly beats the loss of about 3% per year over the last half decade. This makes us a little wary, but the business might have turned around its fortunes. 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. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for China Railway Tielong Container Logistics (1 shouldn't be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

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 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.