On average, over time, stock markets tend to rise higher. This makes investing attractive. But not every stock you buy will perform as well as the overall market. For example, the WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC), share price is up over the last year, but its gain of 15% trails the market return. However, the stock hasn't done so well in the longer term, with the stock only up 2.1% in three years.

Let's take a look at the underlying fundamentals over the longer term, and see if they've been consistent with shareholders returns.

While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. 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 the last year, WEC Energy Group actually saw its earnings per share drop 5.5%.

This means it's unlikely the market is judging the company based on earnings growth. Indeed, when EPS is declining but the share price is up, it often means the market is considering other factors.

Unfortunately WEC Energy Group's fell 7.6% over twelve months. So using a snapshot of key business metrics doesn't give us a good picture of why the market is bidding up the stock.

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

WEC Energy Group is a well known stock, with plenty of analyst coverage, suggesting some visibility into future growth. You can see what analysts are predicting for WEC Energy Group in this interactive graph of future profit estimates.

What About Dividends?

As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). 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. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. As it happens, WEC Energy Group's TSR for the last 1 year was 20%, 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

WEC Energy Group provided a TSR of 20% over the last twelve months. But that was short of the market average. The silver lining is that the gain was actually better than the average annual return of 5% per year over five year. This suggests the company might be improving over time. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for WEC Energy Group (1 is significant!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

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 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.