The most you can lose on any stock (assuming you don't use leverage) is 100% of your money. But on the bright side, if you buy shares in a high quality company at the right price, you can gain well over 100%. Long term Lorne Park Capital Partners Inc. (CVE:LPC) shareholders would be well aware of this, since the stock is up 233% in five years. Also pleasing for shareholders was the 30% gain in the last three months.

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

See our latest analysis for Lorne Park Capital Partners

To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. 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).

Over half a decade, Lorne Park Capital Partners managed to grow its earnings per share at 45% a year. The EPS growth is more impressive than the yearly share price gain of 27% over the same period. Therefore, it seems the market has become relatively pessimistic about the company.

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

We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Having said that, most people consider earnings and revenue growth trends to be a more meaningful guide to the business. This free interactive report on Lorne Park Capital Partners' earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. 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. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. As it happens, Lorne Park Capital Partners' TSR for the last 5 years was 258%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Lorne Park Capital Partners has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 23% in the last twelve months. Of course, that includes the dividend. However, the TSR over five years, coming in at 29% per year, is even more impressive. 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. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Lorne Park Capital Partners (1 is a bit unpleasant) that you should be aware of.