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Investors can approximate the average market return by buying an index fund. But if you buy individual stocks, you can do both better or worse than that. For example, the Österreichische Post AG (VIE:POST) share price is down 18% in the last year. That falls noticeably short of the market return of around -3.2%. Longer term shareholders haven't suffered as badly, since the stock is down a comparatively less painful 2.3% in three years. There was little comfort for shareholders in the last week as the price declined a further 1.4%.
View our latest analysis for Österreichische Post
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).
Unfortunately Österreichische Post reported an EPS drop of 11% for the last year. The share price decline of 18% is actually more than the EPS drop. So it seems the market was too confident about the business, a year ago.
The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).
Dive deeper into Österreichische Post's key metrics by checking this interactive graph of Österreichische Post's earnings, revenue and cash flow.
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. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. In the case of Österreichische Post, it has a TSR of -13% for the last year. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.
A Different Perspective
While the broader market lost about 3.2% in the twelve months, Österreichische Post shareholders did even worse, losing 13% (even including dividends). Having said that, it's inevitable that some stocks will be oversold in a falling market. The key is to keep your eyes on the fundamental developments. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 2.5%, each year, over five years. If the fundamental data continues to indicate long term sustainable growth, the current sell-off could be an opportunity worth considering. Keeping this in mind, a solid next step might be to take a look at Österreichische Post's dividend track record. This free interactive graph is a great place to start.