Would Shareholders Who Purchased Crest Nicholson Holdings' (LON:CRST) Stock Five Years Be Happy With The Share price Today?

We think intelligent long term investing is the way to go. But unfortunately, some companies simply don't succeed. For example the Crest Nicholson Holdings plc (LON:CRST) share price dropped 68% over five years. We certainly feel for shareholders who bought near the top. And we doubt long term believers are the only worried holders, since the stock price has declined 50% over the last twelve months. The falls have accelerated recently, with the share price down 24% in the last three months.

View our latest analysis for Crest Nicholson Holdings

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 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.

In the last half decade Crest Nicholson Holdings saw its share price fall as its EPS declined below zero. The recent extraordinary items contributed to this situation. At present it's hard to make valid comparisons between EPS and the share price. However, we can say we'd expect to see a falling share price in this scenario.

The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

It's good to see that there was some significant insider buying in the last three months. That's a positive. On the other hand, we think the revenue and earnings trends are much more meaningful measures of the business. Before buying or selling a stock, we always recommend a close examination of historic growth trends, available here..

What about the Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?

Investors should note that there's a difference between Crest Nicholson Holdings' total shareholder return (TSR) and its share price change, which we've covered above. Arguably the TSR is a more complete return calculation because it accounts for the value of dividends (as if they were reinvested), along with the hypothetical value of any discounted capital that have been offered to shareholders. Dividends have been really beneficial for Crest Nicholson Holdings shareholders, and that cash payout explains why its total shareholder loss of 58%, over the last 5 years, isn't as bad as the share price return.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market lost about 11% in the twelve months, Crest Nicholson Holdings shareholders did even worse, losing 50%. 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. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 9.5% over the last half decade. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Crest Nicholson Holdings better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks, for example - Crest Nicholson Holdings has 2 warning signs (and 1 which is a bit unpleasant) we think 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 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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