Did You Miss Dr. Reddy's Laboratories's (NSE:DRREDDY) 40% Share Price Gain?

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If you want to compound wealth in the stock market, you can do so by buying an index fund. But investors can boost returns by picking market-beating companies to own shares in. To wit, the Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Limited (NSE:DRREDDY) share price is 40% higher than it was a year ago, much better than the market return of around -6.2% (not including dividends) in the same period. That's a solid performance by our standards! Unfortunately the longer term returns are not so good, with the stock falling 7.0% in the last three years.

See our latest analysis for Dr. Reddy's Laboratories

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...' 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.

During the last year Dr. Reddy's Laboratories grew its earnings per share (EPS) by 76%. It's fair to say that the share price gain of 40% did not keep pace with the EPS growth. Therefore, it seems the market isn't as excited about Dr. Reddy's Laboratories as it was before. This could be an opportunity.

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

NSEI:DRREDDY Past and Future Earnings, May 15th 2019
NSEI:DRREDDY Past and Future Earnings, May 15th 2019

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. 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)?

We've already covered Dr. Reddy's Laboratories's share price action, but we should also mention its total shareholder return (TSR). 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. Its history of dividend payouts mean that Dr. Reddy's Laboratories's TSR of 41% over the last year is better than the share price return.

A Different Perspective

We're pleased to report that Dr. Reddy's Laboratories shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 41% over one year. And that does include the dividend. That's better than the annualised return of 4.6% over half a decade, implying that the company is doing better recently. In the best case scenario, this may hint at some real business momentum, implying that now could be a great time to delve deeper. It is all well and good that insiders have been buying shares, but we suggest you check here to see what price insiders were buying at.

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on IN exchanges.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

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. Thank you for reading.