Yahoo Finance United States Lime & Minerals (NASDAQ:USLM) shareholders have earned a 22% CAGR over the last three years
United States Lime & Minerals, Inc. (NASDAQ:USLM) shareholders might be concerned after seeing the share price drop 12% in the last month. On the other hand the share price is higher than it was three years ago. However, it's unlikely many shareholders are elated with the share price gain of 70% over that time, given the rising market.
Let's take a look at the underlying fundamentals over the longer term, and see if they've been consistent with shareholders returns.
View our latest analysis for United States Lime & Minerals
To quote Buffett, 'Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace...' One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).
During three years of share price growth, United States Lime & Minerals achieved compound earnings per share growth of 10% per year. In comparison, the 19% per year gain in the share price outpaces the EPS growth. This indicates that the market is feeling more optimistic on the stock, after the last few years of progress. That's not necessarily surprising considering the three-year track record of earnings growth.
The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).
Dive deeper into United States Lime & Minerals' key metrics by checking this interactive graph of United States Lime & Minerals's earnings, revenue and cash flow.
What About Dividends?
As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. We note that for United States Lime & Minerals the TSR over the last 3 years was 83%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!
A Different Perspective
United States Lime & Minerals shareholders are up 5.7% 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 12% 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 United States Lime & Minerals better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that United States Lime & Minerals is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...
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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.
