These days it's easy to simply buy an index fund, and your returns should (roughly) match the market. But you can significantly boost your returns by picking above-average stocks. For example, the MINISO Group Holding Limited (NYSE:MNSO) share price is up 49% in the last 1 year, clearly besting the market decline of around 13% (not including dividends). If it can keep that out-performance up over the long term, investors will do very well! Note that businesses generally develop over the long term, so the returns over the last year might not reflect a long term trend.

Now it's worth having a look at the company's fundamentals too, because that will help us determine if the long term shareholder return has matched the performance of the underlying business.

View our latest analysis for MINISO Group Holding

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. 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).

MINISO Group Holding was able to grow EPS by 61% in the last twelve months. This EPS growth is significantly higher than the 49% increase in the share price. Therefore, it seems the market isn't as excited about MINISO Group Holding as it was before. This could be an opportunity.

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

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. It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on MINISO Group Holding's 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. Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. We note that for MINISO Group Holding the TSR over the last 1 year was 52%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

MINISO Group Holding shareholders should be happy with the total gain of 52% over the last twelve months, including dividends. A substantial portion of that gain has come in the last three months, with the stock up 190% in that time. Demand for the stock from multiple parties is pushing the price higher; it could be that word is getting out about its virtues as a business. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand MINISO Group Holding better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for MINISO Group Holding you should be aware of.

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

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