It hasn't been the best quarter for PITECO S.p.A. (BIT:PITE) shareholders, since the share price has fallen 15% in that time. While that might be a setback, it doesn't negate the nice returns received over the last twelve months. After all, the share price is up a market-beating 37% in that time.

View our latest analysis for PITECO

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 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.

PITECO was able to grow EPS by 12% in the last twelve months. The share price gain of 37% certainly outpaced the EPS growth. This indicates that the market is now more optimistic about the stock.

The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

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 PITECO's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. In the case of PITECO, it has a TSR of 41% for the last year. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

It's nice to see that PITECO shareholders have gained 41% (in total) over the last year. That's including the dividend. That's better than the annualized TSR of 12% over the last three years. Given the track record of solid returns over varying time frames, it might be worth putting PITECO on your watchlist. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand PITECO better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks, for example - PITECO has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

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 IT exchanges.

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.

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. Thank you for reading.