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Passive investing in an index fund is a good way to ensure your own returns roughly match the overall market. While individual stocks can be big winners, plenty more fail to generate satisfactory returns. Investors in Bukit Sembawang Estates Limited (SGX:B61) have tasted that bitter downside in the last year, as the share price dropped 15%. That contrasts poorly with the market return of 4.3%. Longer term investors have fared much better, since the share price is up 3.9% in three years. It's down 1.6% in the last seven days.
Check out our latest analysis for Bukit Sembawang Estates
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 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).
Unhappily, Bukit Sembawang Estates had to report a 2.4% decline in EPS over the last year. The share price decline of 15% is actually more than the EPS drop. Unsurprisingly, given the lack of EPS growth, the market seems to be more cautious about the stock.
You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).
It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on Bukit Sembawang Estates's earnings, revenue and cash flow.
What About Dividends?
When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. 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. We note that for Bukit Sembawang Estates the TSR over the last year was -11%, 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
While the broader market gained around 4.3% in the last year, Bukit Sembawang Estates shareholders lost 11% (even including dividends) . However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. On the bright side, long term shareholders have made money, with a gain of 3.6% per year over half a decade. 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. If you would like to research Bukit Sembawang Estates in more detail then you might want to take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in the company.