Can You Imagine How Hersha Hospitality Trust's (NYSE:HT) Shareholders Feel About The 77% Share Price Increase?

The simplest way to invest in stocks is to buy exchange traded funds. But if you pick the right individual stocks, you could make more than that. To wit, the Hersha Hospitality Trust (NYSE:HT) share price is 77% higher than it was a year ago, much better than the market return of around 40% (not including dividends) in the same period. If it can keep that out-performance up over the long term, investors will do very well! On the other hand, longer term shareholders have had a tougher run, with the stock falling 43% in three years.

View our latest analysis for Hersha Hospitality Trust

Given that Hersha Hospitality Trust didn't make a profit in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue growth to form a quick view of its business development. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. That's because it's hard to be confident a company will be sustainable if revenue growth is negligible, and it never makes a profit.

In the last year Hersha Hospitality Trust saw its revenue shrink by 74%. Despite the lack of revenue growth, the stock has returned a solid 77% the last twelve months. To us that means that there isn't a lot of correlation between the past revenue performance and the share price, but a closer look at analyst forecasts and the bottom line may well explain a lot.

The graphic below depicts how earnings and revenue have changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

earnings-and-revenue-growth
earnings-and-revenue-growth

We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Even so, future earnings will be far more important to whether current shareholders make money. If you are thinking of buying or selling Hersha Hospitality Trust stock, you should check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.

A Different Perspective

We're pleased to report that Hersha Hospitality Trust shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 77% over one year. There's no doubt those recent returns are much better than the TSR loss of 3% per year over five years. The long term loss makes us cautious, but the short term TSR gain certainly hints at a brighter future. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Hersha Hospitality Trust (of which 1 is concerning!) you should know about.

Hersha Hospitality Trust 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 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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