Yahoo Finance Those who invested in Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) five years ago are up 738%
We think all investors should try to buy and hold high quality multi-year winners. While not every stock performs well, when investors win, they can win big. Just think about the savvy investors who held Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT) shares for the last five years, while they gained 738%. If that doesn't get you thinking about long term investing, we don't know what will. Also pleasing for shareholders was the 18% gain in the last three months. We love happy stories like this one. The company should be really proud of that performance!
With that in mind, it's worth seeing if the company's underlying fundamentals have been the driver of long term performance, or if there are some discrepancies.
See our latest analysis for Novanta
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 five years of share price growth, Novanta achieved compound earnings per share (EPS) growth of 19% per year. This EPS growth is lower than the 53% average annual increase in the share price. This suggests that market participants hold the company in higher regard, these days. That's not necessarily surprising considering the five-year track record of earnings growth. This optimism is visible in its fairly high P/E ratio of 127.50.
You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).
We know that Novanta has improved its bottom line lately, but is it going to grow revenue? If you're interested, you could check this free report showing consensus revenue forecasts.
A Different Perspective
It's nice to see that Novanta shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 49% over the last year. However, that falls short of the 53% TSR per annum it has made for shareholders, each year, over five years. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Even so, be aware that Novanta is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...
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 US 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.
