Yahoo Finance Does Contact Energy's (NZSE:CEN) Share Price Gain of 31% Match Its Business Performance?
It hasn't been the best quarter for Contact Energy Limited (NZSE:CEN) shareholders, since the share price has fallen 10% in that time. But at least the stock is up over the last three years. Arguably you'd have been better off buying an index fund, because the gain of 31% in three years isn't amazing.
View our latest analysis for Contact Energy
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 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 the three years of share price growth, Contact Energy actually saw its earnings per share (EPS) drop 3.6% per year.
Given the share price resilience, we don't think the (declining) EPS numbers are a good measure of how the business is moving forward, right now. So other metrics may hold the key to understanding what is influencing investors.
Interestingly, the dividend has increased over time; so that may have given the share price a boost. Sometimes yield-chasing investors will flock to a company if they think the dividend can grow over time. On top of that, revenue grew at a rate of 6.1% per year, and it's likely investors interpret that as pointing to a brighter future.
You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).
Balance sheet strength is crucial. It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on how its financial position has changed over time.
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, Contact Energy's TSR for the last 3 years was 54%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!
A Different Perspective
Contact Energy shareholders are up 6.8% for the year (even including dividends) . Unfortunately this falls short of the market return. If we look back over five years, the returns are even better, coming in at 8.6% per year for five years. Maybe the share price is just taking a breather while the business executes on its growth strategy. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Contact Energy better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Contact Energy (1 can't be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing here.
For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on NZ exchanges.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
