While Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) shareholders are probably generally happy, the stock hasn't had particularly good run recently, with the share price falling 13% in the last quarter. But that scarcely detracts from the really solid long term returns generated by the company over five years. Indeed, the share price is up an impressive 108% in that time. So while it's never fun to see a share price fall, it's important to look at a longer time horizon. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean it's cheap now.

Although Asbury Automotive Group has shed US$235m from its market cap this week, let's take a look at its longer term fundamental trends and see if they've driven returns.

View our latest analysis for Asbury Automotive Group

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

Over half a decade, Asbury Automotive Group managed to grow its earnings per share at 17% a year. So the EPS growth rate is rather close to the annualized share price gain of 16% per year. This indicates that investor sentiment towards the company has not changed a great deal. Rather, the share price has approximately tracked EPS growth.

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

Dive deeper into Asbury Automotive Group's key metrics by checking this interactive graph of Asbury Automotive Group's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

A Different Perspective

Asbury Automotive Group shareholders gained a total return of 19% during the year. But that return falls short of the market. The silver lining is that the gain was actually better than the average annual return of 16% per year over five year. This suggests the company might be improving over time. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Asbury Automotive Group better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for Asbury Automotive Group you should be aware of, and 1 of them is a bit unpleasant.

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: many of them are unnoticed AND have attractive valuation).

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on American 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.