The International Paper (NYSE:IP) Share Price Is Down 17% So Some Shareholders Are Getting Worried

Passive investing in an index fund is a good way to ensure your own returns roughly match the overall market. While individual stocks can be big winners, plenty more fail to generate satisfactory returns. Investors in International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) have tasted that bitter downside in the last year, as the share price dropped 17%. That falls noticeably short of the market return of around 9.3%. Longer term investors have fared much better, since the share price is up 2.5% in three years. On top of that, the share price is down 7.0% in the last week.

View our latest analysis for International Paper

In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.

Unhappily, International Paper had to report a 20% decline in EPS over the last year. This fall in the EPS is significantly worse than the 17% the share price fall. So despite the weak per-share profits, some investors are probably relieved the situation wasn't more difficult.

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

NYSE:IP Past and Future Earnings, April 21st 2019
NYSE:IP Past and Future Earnings, April 21st 2019

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

What About Dividends?

As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). 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. We note that for International Paper the TSR over the last year was -13%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!

A Different Perspective

Investors in International Paper had a tough year, with a total loss of 13% (including dividends), against a market gain of about 9.3%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 3.4%, each year, over five years. If the fundamental data continues to indicate long term sustainable growth, the current sell-off could be an opportunity worth considering. If you would like to research International Paper in more detail then you might want to take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in the company.

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 US 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.