Yahoo Finance Earnings growth of 2.8% over 1 year hasn't been enough to translate into positive returns for Lufax Holding (NYSE:LU) shareholders
Even the best stock pickers will make plenty of bad investments. And unfortunately for Lufax Holding Ltd (NYSE:LU) shareholders, the stock is a lot lower today than it was a year ago. To wit the share price is down 58% in that time. Lufax Holding may have better days ahead, of course; we've only looked at a one year period. The falls have accelerated recently, with the share price down 51% in the last three months.
After losing 15% this past week, it's worth investigating the company's fundamentals to see what we can infer from past performance.
Check out our latest analysis for Lufax Holding
To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. 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.
Even though the Lufax Holding share price is down over the year, its EPS actually improved. Of course, the situation might betray previous over-optimism about growth.
By glancing at these numbers, we'd posit that the the market had expectations of much higher growth, last year. But other metrics might shed some light on why the share price is down.
Lufax Holding's dividend seems healthy to us, so we doubt that the yield is a concern for the market. From what we can see, revenue is pretty flat, so that doesn't really explain the share price drop. Of course, it could simply be that it simply fell short of the market consensus expectations.
The graphic below depicts how earnings and revenue have changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).
Lufax Holding is well known by investors, and plenty of clever analysts have tried to predict the future profit levels. If you are thinking of buying or selling Lufax Holding stock, you should check out this free report showing analyst consensus estimates for future profits.
What About Dividends?
When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. In the case of Lufax Holding, it has a TSR of -56% for the last 1 year. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!
A Different Perspective
Lufax Holding shareholders are down 56% for the year (even including dividends), even worse than the market loss of 23%. That's disappointing, but it's worth keeping in mind that the market-wide selling wouldn't have helped. With the stock down 51% over the last three months, the market doesn't seem to believe that the company has solved all its problems. Given the relatively short history of this stock, we'd remain pretty wary until we see some strong business performance. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Lufax Holding better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Lufax Holding (1 is a bit concerning) that you should be aware of.
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 US exchanges.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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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