Yahoo Finance Standard Life Aberdeen (LON:SLA) Has Returned Negative 15% To Its Shareholders In The Past Three Years
While not a mind-blowing move, it is good to see that the Standard Life Aberdeen plc (LON:SLA) share price has gained 15% in the last three months. But that cannot eclipse the less-than-impressive returns over the last three years. Truth be told the share price declined 43% in three years and that return, Dear Reader, falls short of what you could have got from passive investing with an index fund.
Check out our latest analysis for Standard Life Aberdeen
There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. 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.
We know that Standard Life Aberdeen has been profitable in the past. However, it made a loss in the last twelve months, suggesting profit may be an unreliable metric at this stage. Other metrics might give us a better handle on how its value is changing over time.
It's quite likely that the declining dividend has caused some investors to sell their shares, pushing the price lower in the process. The revenue decline, at an annual rate of 32% over three years, might be considered salt in the wound.
The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).
We consider it positive that insiders have made significant purchases in the last year. Having said that, most people consider earnings and revenue growth trends to be a more meaningful guide to the business. So it makes a lot of sense to check out what analysts think Standard Life Aberdeen will earn in the future (free profit forecasts).
What About Dividends?
When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. 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. We note that for Standard Life Aberdeen the TSR over the last 3 years was -15%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. 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, Standard Life Aberdeen shareholders can take comfort that , including dividends,their trailing twelve month loss of 4.5% wasn't as bad as the market loss of around 6.8%. Of course, the long term returns are far more important and the good news is that over five years, the stock has returned 2% for each year. In the best case scenario the last year is just a temporary blip on the journey to a brighter future. 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. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Standard Life Aberdeen .
If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on GB exchanges.
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. 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.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
