While not a mind-blowing move, it is good to see that the Bank of Tianjin Co., Ltd. (HKG:1578) share price has gained 11% in the last three months. But that can't change the reality that over the longer term (five years), the returns have been really quite dismal. In fact, the share price has declined rather badly, down some 62% in that time. Some might say the recent bounce is to be expected after such a bad drop. But it could be that the fall was overdone.

While the stock has risen 3.3% in the past week but long term shareholders are still in the red, let's see what the fundamentals can tell us.

See our latest analysis for Bank of Tianjin

There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

Looking back five years, both Bank of Tianjin's share price and EPS declined; the latter at a rate of 7.4% per year. This reduction in EPS is less than the 17% annual reduction in the share price. This implies that the market was previously too optimistic about the stock. The low P/E ratio of 3.52 further reflects this reticence.

You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

It's probably worth noting that the CEO is paid less than the median at similar sized companies. It's always worth keeping an eye on CEO pay, but a more important question is whether the company will grow earnings throughout the years. This free interactive report on Bank of Tianjin's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

What about the Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?

Investors should note that there's a difference between Bank of Tianjin's total shareholder return (TSR) and its share price change, which we've covered above. 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. Its history of dividend payouts mean that Bank of Tianjin's TSR, which was a 55% drop over the last 5 years, was not as bad as the share price return.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market lost about 20% in the twelve months, Bank of Tianjin shareholders did even worse, losing 40%. However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 9% over the last half decade. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Bank of Tianjin better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Bank of Tianjin .

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of companies that have proven they can grow earnings.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on HK exchanges.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.