It hasn't been the best quarter for Dilip Buildcon Limited (NSE:DBL) shareholders, since the share price has fallen 16% in that time. But that shouldn't obscure the pleasing returns achieved by shareholders over the last three years. In the last three years the share price is up, 62%: better than the market.

Check out our latest analysis for Dilip Buildcon

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. 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.

Dilip Buildcon was able to grow its EPS at 17% per year over three years, sending the share price higher. We don't think it is entirely coincidental that the EPS growth is reasonably close to the 18% average annual increase in the share price. This observation indicates that the market's attitude to the business hasn't changed all that much. Rather, the share price has approximately tracked EPS growth.

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

This free interactive report on Dilip Buildcon's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

The last twelve months weren't great for Dilip Buildcon shares, which performed worse than the market, costing holders 53%, including dividends. The market shed around 8.8%, no doubt weighing on the stock price. Fortunately the longer term story is brighter, with total returns averaging about 18% per year over three years. Sometimes when a good quality long term winner has a weak period, it's turns out to be an opportunity, but you really need to be sure that the quality is there. Before spending more time on Dilip Buildcon it might be wise to click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling shares.

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 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.