The main point of investing for the long term is to make money. But more than that, you probably want to see it rise more than the market average. Unfortunately for shareholders, while the ASGN Incorporated (NYSE:ASGN) share price is up 54% in the last five years, that's less than the market return. Over the last twelve months the stock price has risen a very respectable 7.0%.

Since the stock has added US$185m to its market cap in the past week alone, let's see if underlying performance has been driving long-term returns.

View our latest analysis for ASGN

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

During five years of share price growth, ASGN achieved compound earnings per share (EPS) growth of 6.7% per year. This EPS growth is lower than the 9% average annual increase in the share price. This suggests that market participants hold the company in higher regard, these days. And that's hardly shocking given the track record of growth.

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

Dive deeper into ASGN's key metrics by checking this interactive graph of ASGN's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

A Different Perspective

ASGN shareholders are up 7.0% for the year. But that was short of the market average. If we look back over five years, the returns are even better, coming in at 9% per year for five years. Maybe the share price is just taking a breather while the business executes on its growth strategy. 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 instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for ASGN that you should be aware of.

We will like ASGN 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 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.