If you buy and hold a stock for many years, you'd hope to be making a profit. Furthermore, you'd generally like to see the share price rise faster than the market. Unfortunately for shareholders, while the Loma Negra Compañía Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:LOMA) share price is up 36% in the last five years, that's less than the market return. However, more recent buyers should be happy with the increase of 26% over the last year.

While this past week has detracted from the company's five-year return, let's look at the recent trends of the underlying business and see if the gains have been in alignment.

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 imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.

Over half a decade, Loma Negra Compañía Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anónima managed to grow its earnings per share at 71% a year. The EPS growth is more impressive than the yearly share price gain of 6% over the same period. Therefore, it seems the market has become relatively pessimistic about the company.

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

We know that Loma Negra Compañía Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anónima has improved its bottom line over the last three years, but what does the future have in store? Take a more thorough look at Loma Negra Compañía Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anónima's financial health with this free report on its balance sheet.

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. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. As it happens, Loma Negra Compañía Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anónima's TSR for the last 5 years was 102%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

A Different Perspective

Loma Negra Compañía Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anónima provided a TSR of 26% over the last twelve months. But that return falls short of the market. On the bright side, that's still a gain, and it's actually better than the average return of 15% over half a decade This suggests the company might be improving over time. 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 1 warning sign for Loma Negra Compañía Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anónima that you should be aware of before investing here.

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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.