Yahoo Finance Investing in Augean (LON:AUG) five years ago would have delivered you a 655% gain
Long term investing can be life changing when you buy and hold the truly great businesses. And we've seen some truly amazing gains over the years. For example, the Augean plc (LON:AUG) share price is up a whopping 643% in the last half decade, a handsome return for long term holders. And this is just one example of the epic gains achieved by some long term investors. And in the last month, the share price has gained 26%. This could be related to the recent financial results that were recently released - you could check the most recent data by reading our company report. We love happy stories like this one. The company should be really proud of that performance!
Let's take a look at the underlying fundamentals over the longer term, and see if they've been consistent with shareholders returns.
Check out our latest analysis for Augean
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 imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.
During the last half decade, Augean became profitable. That kind of transition can be an inflection point that justifies a strong share price gain, just as we have seen here.
The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).
We know that Augean has improved its bottom line over the last three years, but what does the future have in store? It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on how its financial position has changed over time.
What about the Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?
We've already covered Augean's share price action, but we should also mention its total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. Its history of dividend payouts mean that Augean's TSR of 655% over the last 5 years is better than the share price return.
A Different Perspective
We're pleased to report that Augean shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 87% over one year. That's better than the annualised return of 50% over half a decade, implying that the company is doing better recently. In the best case scenario, this may hint at some real business momentum, implying that now could be a great time to delve deeper. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Augean better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Augean that you should be aware of.
Of course Augean may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on GB exchanges.
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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