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Such Is Life: How PetMed Express (NASDAQ:PETS) Shareholders Saw Their Shares Drop 53%

Even the best stock pickers will make plenty of bad investments. Anyone who held PetMed Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:PETS) over the last year knows what a loser feels like. The share price has slid 53% in that time. However, the longer term returns haven't been so bad, with the stock down 19% in the last three years. On the other hand the share price has bounced 6.6% over the last week.

Check out our latest analysis for PetMed Express

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. 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).

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Unfortunately PetMed Express reported an EPS drop of 25% for the last year. The share price decline of 53% is actually more than the EPS drop. Unsurprisingly, given the lack of EPS growth, the market seems to be more cautious about the stock. The P/E ratio of 11.07 also points to the negative market sentiment.

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

NasdaqGS:PETS Past and Future Earnings, September 6th 2019
NasdaqGS:PETS Past and Future Earnings, September 6th 2019

We're pleased to report that the CEO is remunerated more modestly than most CEOs at similarly capitalized companies. It's always worth keeping an eye on CEO pay, but a more important question is whether the company will grow earnings throughout the years. Before buying or selling a stock, we always recommend a close examination of historic growth trends, available here..

What About Dividends?

It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. 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. We note that for PetMed Express the TSR over the last year was -51%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

A Different Perspective

Investors in PetMed Express had a tough year, with a total loss of 51% (including dividends), against a market gain of about 3.8%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 7.2%, each year, over five years. It could be that the recent sell-off is an opportunity, so it may be worth checking the fundamental data for signs of a long term growth trend. Before spending more time on PetMed Express it might be wise to click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling shares.

But note: PetMed Express may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with past earnings growth (and further growth forecast).

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.