It can certainly be frustrating when a stock does not perform as hoped. But it's hard to avoid some disappointing investments when the overall market is down. The Xiamen ITG Group Corp.,Ltd (SHSE:600755) is down 25% over three years, but the total shareholder return is -7.5% once you include the dividend. And that total return actually beats the market decline of 31%. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 25% in the last 90 days. But this could be related to the weak market, which is down 13% in the same period.

If the past week is anything to go by, investor sentiment for Xiamen ITG GroupLtd isn't positive, so let's see if there's a mismatch between fundamentals and the share price.

In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. 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.

Xiamen ITG GroupLtd saw its EPS decline at a compound rate of 26% per year, over the last three years. This fall in the EPS is worse than the 9% compound annual share price fall. So the market may not be too worried about the EPS figure, at the moment -- or it may have previously priced some of the drop in.

The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

Dive deeper into Xiamen ITG GroupLtd's key metrics by checking this interactive graph of Xiamen ITG GroupLtd'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 is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. We note that for Xiamen ITG GroupLtd the TSR over the last 3 years was -7.5%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

While it's certainly disappointing to see that Xiamen ITG GroupLtd shares lost 14% throughout the year, that wasn't as bad as the market loss of 17%. 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 Xiamen ITG GroupLtd better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Xiamen ITG GroupLtd that you should be aware of.

Of course Xiamen ITG GroupLtd may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.

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.