GlaxoSmithKline (LON:GSK) Has Compensated Shareholders With A Respectable 56% Return On Their Investment

Stock pickers are generally looking for stocks that will outperform the broader market. And in our experience, buying the right stocks can give your wealth a significant boost. To wit, the GlaxoSmithKline share price has climbed 19% in five years, easily topping the market decline of 7.6% (ignoring dividends).

Check out our latest analysis for GlaxoSmithKline ” data-reactid=”29″> Check out our latest analysis for GlaxoSmithKline

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 five years of share price growth, GlaxoSmithKline actually saw its EPS drop 7.7% per year.

Since the EPS are down strongly, it seems highly unlikely market participants are looking at EPS to value the company. Given that EPS is down, but the share price is up, it seems clear the market is focussed on other aspects of the business, at the moment.

We note that the dividend has not increased, so that doesn’t seem to explain the increase, either. But it’s reasonably likely that the 7.7% annual compound revenue growth is considered evidence that GlaxoSmithKline has plenty of growth ahead of it. In that case, the company may be sacrificing current earnings per share to drive growth.

The graphic below depicts how earnings and revenue have changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

More

report showing analyst forecasts should help you form a view on GlaxoSmithKline” data-reactid=”51″>We consider it positive that insiders have made significant purchases in the last year. Even so, future earnings will be far more important to whether current shareholders make money. This free report showing analyst forecasts should help you form a view on GlaxoSmithKline

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 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. It’s fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. As it happens, GlaxoSmithKline’s TSR for the last 5 years was 56%, 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

2 warning signs for GlaxoSmithKline you should be aware of, and 1 of them is a bit unpleasant.” data-reactid=”55″>While it’s certainly disappointing to see that GlaxoSmithKline shares lost 3.3% throughout the year, that wasn’t as bad as the market loss of 11%. Longer term investors wouldn’t be so upset, since they would have made 9.3%, each year, over five years. In the best case scenario the last year is just a temporary blip on the journey to a brighter future. It’s always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand GlaxoSmithKline better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We’ve spotted 2 warning signs for GlaxoSmithKline you should be aware of, and 1 of them is a bit unpleasant.

list of growing companies with insider buying.” data-reactid=”56″>GlaxoSmithKline is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.