The Chemours Company (NYSE:CC) shareholders might be concerned after seeing the share price drop 15% in the last quarter. On the bright side the share price is up over the last half decade. However we are not very impressed because the share price is only up 40%, less than the market return of 110%. While the long term returns are impressive, we do have some sympathy for those who bought more recently, given the 32% drop, in the last year.

Since it's been a strong week for Chemours shareholders, let's have a look at trend of the longer term fundamentals.

Check out our latest analysis for Chemours

To quote Buffett, 'Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace...' One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

During the five years of share price growth, Chemours moved from a loss to profitability. That's generally thought to be a genuine positive, so investors may expect to see an increasing share price.

You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

It's probably worth noting that the CEO is paid less than the median at similar sized companies. But while CEO remuneration is always worth checking, the really important question is whether the company can grow earnings going forward. This free interactive report on Chemours' earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

What About Dividends?

As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). 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. As it happens, Chemours' TSR for the last 5 years was 71%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 35% in the last year, Chemours shareholders lost 29% (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 11% per year over half a decade. If the fundamental data continues to indicate long term sustainable growth, the current sell-off could be an opportunity worth considering. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Even so, be aware that Chemours is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...