While not a mind-blowing move, it is good to see that the Murray Cod Australia Limited (ASX:MCA) share price has gained 25% in the last three months. But over the last three years we've seen a quite serious decline. In that time, the share price dropped 61%. So the improvement may be a real relief to some. Perhaps the company has turned over a new leaf.

Since shareholders are down over the longer term, lets look at the underlying fundamentals over the that time and see if they've been consistent with returns.

Check out our latest analysis for Murray Cod Australia

Given that Murray Cod Australia didn't make a profit in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue growth to form a quick view of its business development. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually desire strong revenue growth. That's because it's hard to be confident a company will be sustainable if revenue growth is negligible, and it never makes a profit.

In the last three years Murray Cod Australia saw its revenue shrink by 1.3% per year. That is not a good result. With revenue in decline, and profit but a dream, we can understand why the share price has been declining at 17% per year. Having said that, if growth is coming in the future, now may be the low ebb for the company. We don't generally like to own companies that lose money and can't grow revenues. But any company is worth looking at when it makes a maiden profit.

You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

It's good to see that there was some significant insider buying in the last three months. That's a positive. That said, we think earnings and revenue growth trends are even more important factors to consider. Before buying or selling a stock, we always recommend a close examination of historic growth trends, available here..

What About The Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?

We've already covered Murray Cod Australia's share price action, but we should also mention its total shareholder return (TSR). Arguably the TSR is a more complete return calculation because it accounts for the value of dividends (as if they were reinvested), along with the hypothetical value of any discounted capital that have been offered to shareholders. We note that Murray Cod Australia's TSR, at -59% is higher than its share price return of -61%. When you consider it hasn't been paying a dividend, this data suggests shareholders have benefitted from a spin-off, or had the opportunity to acquire attractively priced shares in a discounted capital raising.