Land Securities Group's (LON:LAND) Shareholders Are Down 63% On Their Shares

We think intelligent long term investing is the way to go. But along the way some stocks are going to perform badly. To wit, the Land Securities Group plc (LON:LAND) share price managed to fall 63% over five long years. That is extremely sub-optimal, to say the least. And some of the more recent buyers are probably worried, too, with the stock falling 44% in the last year. It's down 4.8% in the last seven days.

Check out our latest analysis for Land Securities Group

To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. 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.

Land Securities Group has made a profit 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.

The revenue decline of 2.7% isn't too bad. But if the market expected durable top line growth, then that could explain the share price weakness.

The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

Land Securities Group is a well known stock, with plenty of analyst coverage, suggesting some visibility into future growth. So it makes a lot of sense to check out what analysts think Land Securities Group will earn in the future (free analyst consensus estimates)

What about the Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?

Investors should note that there's a difference between Land Securities Group's total shareholder return (TSR) and its share price change, which we've covered above. The TSR attempts to capture the value of dividends (as if they were reinvested) as well as any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings offered to shareholders. Land Securities Group's TSR of was a loss of 52% for the 5 years. That wasn't as bad as its share price return, because it has paid dividends.

A Different Perspective

We regret to report that Land Securities Group shareholders are down 43% for the year. Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 11%. However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 9% per year over five years. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. 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. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for Land Securities Group you should be aware of.

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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 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.

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