Shaanxi Provincial Natural Gas Co.,Ltd (SZSE:002267) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 11% in the last month. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last five years have been less than pleasing. After all, the share price is down 12% in that time, significantly under-performing the market.

The recent uptick of 6.1% could be a positive sign of things to come, so let's take a look at historical fundamentals.

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 way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

While the share price declined over five years, Shaanxi Provincial Natural GasLtd actually managed to increase EPS by an average of 9.4% per year. Given the share price reaction, one might suspect that EPS is not a good guide to the business performance during the period (perhaps due to a one-off loss or gain). Or possibly, the market was previously very optimistic, so the stock has disappointed, despite improving EPS.

It's strange to see such muted share price performance despite sustained growth. Perhaps a clue lies in other metrics.

We note that the dividend has remained healthy, so that wouldn't really explain the share price drop. However, revenue has declined at a compound annual rate of 5.3% per year. With dividends up, but revenue down, some investors might be concluding that the company is no longer growing.

The graphic below depicts how earnings and revenue have changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

Take a more thorough look at Shaanxi Provincial Natural GasLtd's financial health with this free report on its balance sheet.

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. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. In the case of Shaanxi Provincial Natural GasLtd, it has a TSR of 6.9% for the last 5 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!

A Different Perspective

While it's never nice to take a loss, Shaanxi Provincial Natural GasLtd shareholders can take comfort that , including dividends,their trailing twelve month loss of 3.0% wasn't as bad as the market loss of around 14%. Of course, the long term returns are far more important and the good news is that over five years, the stock has returned 1.3% for each year. In the best case scenario the last year is just a temporary blip on the journey to a brighter future. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Shaanxi Provincial Natural GasLtd better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Shaanxi Provincial Natural GasLtd that you should be aware of.

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.