Guangdong Champion Asia Electronics Co.,Ltd. (SHSE:603386) shareholders might be concerned after seeing the share price drop 14% in the last month. But at least the stock is up over the last five years. In that time, it is up 15%, which isn't bad, but is below the market return of 30%.

Although Guangdong Champion Asia ElectronicsLtd has shed CN¥581m from its market cap this week, let's take a look at its longer term fundamental trends and see if they've driven returns.

See our latest analysis for Guangdong Champion Asia ElectronicsLtd

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.

During five years of share price growth, Guangdong Champion Asia ElectronicsLtd achieved compound earnings per share (EPS) growth of 6.6% per year. This EPS growth is higher than the 3% average annual increase in the share price. So one could conclude that the broader market has become more cautious towards the stock.

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

Before buying or selling a stock, we always recommend a close examination of historic growth trends, available here.

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. 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. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. As it happens, Guangdong Champion Asia ElectronicsLtd's TSR for the last 5 years was 24%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Guangdong Champion Asia ElectronicsLtd has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 8.0% in the last twelve months. Of course, that includes the dividend. That gain is better than the annual TSR over five years, which is 4%. Therefore it seems like sentiment around the company has been positive lately. Given the share price momentum remains strong, it might be worth taking a closer look at the stock, lest you miss an opportunity. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Guangdong Champion Asia ElectronicsLtd better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Guangdong Champion Asia ElectronicsLtd that you should be aware of before investing here.

We will like Guangdong Champion Asia ElectronicsLtd 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.