These days it's easy to simply buy an index fund, and your returns should (roughly) match the market. In contrast individual stocks will provide a wide range of possible returns, and may fall short. Unfortunately for investors in Helgeland Sparebank (OB:HELG), the share price has slipped 20% in three years, falling short of the marketdecline of 9.1%. It's down 25% in about a quarter. However, one could argue that the price has been influenced by the general market, which is down 19% in the same timeframe.

Check out our latest analysis for Helgeland Sparebank

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 way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

Helgeland Sparebank saw its EPS decline at a compound rate of 7.7% per year, over the last three years. This change in EPS is reasonably close to the 7.1% average annual decrease in the share price. That suggests that the market sentiment around the company hasn't changed much over that time, despite the disappointment. Rather, the share price has approximately tracked EPS growth.

You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

We know that Helgeland Sparebank has improved its bottom line lately, but is it going to grow revenue? This free report showing analyst revenue forecasts should help you figure out if the EPS growth can be sustained.

What About Dividends?

It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. 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 Helgeland Sparebank, it has a TSR of -11% for the last 3 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

The total return of 14% received by Helgeland Sparebank shareholders over the last year isn't far from the market return of -13%. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 6.1%, each year, over five years. If the fundamental data remains strong, and the share price is simply down on sentiment, then this could be an opportunity worth investigating. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Helgeland Sparebank you should know about.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies we expect will grow earnings.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on NO exchanges.

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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. Thank you for reading.