It might be of some concern to shareholders to see the Bijou Brigitte modische Accessoires Aktiengesellschaft (ETR:BIJ) share price down 15% in the last month. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last three years have been pleasing. After all, the share price is up a market-beating 49% in that time.

Let's take a look at the underlying fundamentals over the longer term, and see if they've been consistent with shareholders returns.

See our latest analysis for Bijou Brigitte modische Accessoires

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 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.

During three years of share price growth, Bijou Brigitte modische Accessoires moved from a loss to profitability. So we would expect a higher share price over the period.

The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on Bijou Brigitte modische Accessoires' 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. 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. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. In the case of Bijou Brigitte modische Accessoires, it has a TSR of 80% for the last 3 years. 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

Bijou Brigitte modische Accessoires shareholders are down 21% for the year (even including dividends), but the market itself is up 7.1%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 1.5%, each year, over five years. 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. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Bijou Brigitte modische Accessoires better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks, for example - Bijou Brigitte modische Accessoires has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.