AG Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:MITT) Shares Have Generated A Total Return Of 57% In The Last Five Years

The main aim of stock picking is to find the market-beating stocks. But even the best stock picker will only win with some selections. At this point some shareholders may be questioning their investment in AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MITT), since the last five years saw the share price fall 14%.

Check out our latest analysis for AG Mortgage Investment Trust

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.

Looking back five years, both AG Mortgage Investment Trust's share price and EPS declined; the latter at a rate of 44% per year. This fall in the EPS is worse than the 3.0% compound annual share price fall. The relatively muted share price reaction might be because the market expects the business to turn around. With a P/E ratio of 84.30, it's fair to say the market sees a brighter future for the business.

You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Even so, future earnings will be far more important to whether current shareholders make money. It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on AG Mortgage Investment Trust'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 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. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. In the case of AG Mortgage Investment Trust, it has a TSR of 57% for the last 5 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

AG Mortgage Investment Trust shareholders are up 0.6% for the year (even including dividends) . But that was short of the market average. On the bright side, the longer term returns (running at about 9.4% a year, over half a decade) look better. It's quite possible the business continues to execute with prowess, even as the share price gains are slowing. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand AG Mortgage Investment Trust better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that AG Mortgage Investment Trust is showing 4 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 2 of those can't be ignored...

AG Mortgage Investment Trust is not the only stock that insiders are buying. 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 US 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.

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