Introducing Kirkland Lake Gold (TSE:KL), A Stock That Climbed 100% In The Last Year
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The simplest way to invest in stocks is to buy exchange traded funds. But one can do better than that by picking better than average stocks (as part of a diversified portfolio). For example, the Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. (TSE:KL) share price is up 100% in the last year, clearly besting than the market return of around -2.3% (not including dividends). So that should have shareholders smiling. Note that businesses generally develop over the long term, so the returns over the last year might not reflect a long term trend.
View our latest analysis for Kirkland Lake Gold
While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. 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.
Kirkland Lake Gold was able to grow EPS by 73% in the last twelve months. This EPS growth is significantly lower than the 100% increase in the share price. So it's fair to assume the market has a higher opinion of the business than it a year ago.
The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).
It's good to see that there was some significant insider buying in the last three months. That's a positive. On the other hand, we think the revenue and earnings trends are much more meaningful measures of the business. Before buying or selling a stock, we always recommend a close examination of historic growth trends, available here..
A Different Perspective
Kirkland Lake Gold boasts a total shareholder return of 100% for the last year(that includes the dividends). The more recent returns haven't been as impressive as the longer term returns, coming in at just 16%. It seems likely the market is waiting on fundamental developments with the business before pushing the share price higher (or lower). If you want to research this stock further, the data on insider buying is an obvious place to start. You can click here to see who has been buying shares - and the price they paid.
There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on CA 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.
