Anglo Pacific Group (LON:APF) Has Gifted Shareholders With A Fantastic 107% Total Return On Their Investment

Anglo Pacific Group plc (LON:APF) shareholders might be concerned after seeing the share price drop 12% in the last month. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last five years have been pleasing. It has returned a market beating 53% in that time. Unfortunately not all shareholders will have held it for the long term, so spare a thought for those caught in the 37% decline over the last twelve months.

Check out our latest analysis for Anglo Pacific Group

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...' By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.

During the last half decade, Anglo Pacific Group became profitable. That's generally thought to be a genuine positive, so we would expect to see an increasing share price. Since the company was unprofitable five years ago, but not three years ago, it's worth taking a look at the returns in the last three years, too. We can see that the Anglo Pacific Group share price is up 25% in the last three years. Meanwhile, EPS is up 1.0% per year. Notably, the EPS growth has been slower than the annualised share price gain of 7.7% over three years. So it's fair to assume the market has a higher opinion of the business than it did three years ago.

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

It's good to see that there was some significant insider buying in the last three months. That's a positive. That said, we think earnings and revenue growth trends are even more important factors to consider. Dive deeper into the earnings by checking this interactive graph of Anglo Pacific Group's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What About Dividends?

It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. 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. As it happens, Anglo Pacific Group's TSR for the last 5 years was 107%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market lost about 11% in the twelve months, Anglo Pacific Group shareholders did even worse, losing 33% (even including dividends) . Having said that, it's inevitable that some stocks will be oversold in a falling market. The key is to keep your eyes on the fundamental developments. On the bright side, long term shareholders have made money, with a gain of 16% per year over half a decade. If the fundamental data continues to indicate long term sustainable growth, the current sell-off could be an opportunity worth considering. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Anglo Pacific Group better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for Anglo Pacific Group you should be aware of, and 1 of them can't be ignored.

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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