The worst result, after buying shares in a company (assuming no leverage), would be if you lose all the money you put in. But on the bright side, you can make far more than 100% on a really good stock. For example, the Cortina Holdings Limited (SGX:C41) share price has soared 139% in the last half decade. Most would be very happy with that. We note the stock price is up 2.5% in the last seven days.

So let's investigate and see if the longer term performance of the company has been in line with the underlying business' progress.

View our latest analysis for Cortina Holdings

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 imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.

Over half a decade, Cortina Holdings managed to grow its earnings per share at 22% a year. This EPS growth is reasonably close to the 19% average annual increase in the share price. This indicates that investor sentiment towards the company has not changed a great deal. In fact, the share price seems to largely reflect the EPS growth.

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

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

What About Dividends?

As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. As it happens, Cortina Holdings' TSR for the last 5 years was 186%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

Investors in Cortina Holdings had a tough year, with a total loss of 8.4% (including dividends), against a market gain of about 1.1%. 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 23% 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. 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 Cortina Holdings is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those doesn't sit too well with us...