There's no doubt that investing in the stock market is a truly brilliant way to build wealth. But if when you choose to buy stocks, some of them will be below average performers. Over the last year the Athene Holding Ltd. (NYSE:ATH) share price is up 11%, but that's less than the broader market return. Unfortunately the longer term returns are not so good, with the stock falling 4.7% in the last three years.

View our latest analysis for Athene Holding

While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. 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.

Over the last twelve months, Athene Holding actually shrank its EPS by 25%.

So we don't think that investors are paying too much attention to EPS. Since the change in EPS doesn't seem to correlate with the change in share price, it's worth taking a look at other metrics.

Unfortunately Athene Holding's fell 8.8% over twelve months. So the fundamental metrics don't provide an obvious explanation for the share price gain.

The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Having said that, most people consider earnings and revenue growth trends to be a more meaningful guide to the business. So it makes a lot of sense to check out what analysts think Athene Holding will earn in the future (free profit forecasts).

A Different Perspective

Over the last year Athene Holding shareholders have received a TSR of 11%. It's always nice to make money but this return falls short of the market return which was about 42% for the year. The silver lining is that the recent rise is far preferable to the annual loss of 1.6% that shareholders have suffered over the last three years. It could well be that the business is stabilizing. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Athene Holding better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Athene Holding that you should be aware of.

Athene Holding 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.

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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