Generally speaking long term investing is the way to go. But that doesn't mean long term investors can avoid big losses. For example the Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank Co., Ltd (SZSE:002839) share price dropped 60% over five years. We certainly feel for shareholders who bought near the top. Furthermore, it's down 18% in about a quarter. That's not much fun for holders. Of course, this share price action may well have been influenced by the 9.0% decline in the broader market, throughout the period.

With the stock having lost 4.5% in the past week, it's worth taking a look at business performance and seeing if there's any red flags.

View our latest analysis for Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank

In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.

While the share price declined over five years, Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank actually managed to increase EPS by an average of 13% per year. So it doesn't seem like EPS is a great guide to understanding how the market is valuing the stock. Or possibly, the market was previously very optimistic, so the stock has disappointed, despite improving EPS.

Due to the lack of correlation between the EPS growth and the falling share price, it's worth taking a look at other metrics to try to understand the share price movement.

In contrast to the share price, revenue has actually increased by 12% a year in the five year period. A more detailed examination of the revenue and earnings may or may not explain why the share price languishes; there could be an opportunity.

The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

We know that Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank has improved its bottom line lately, but what does the future have in store? You can see what analysts are predicting for Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank in this interactive graph of future profit estimates.

What About Dividends?

As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). 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. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. We note that for Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank the TSR over the last 5 years was -55%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

While it's never nice to take a loss, Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank shareholders can take comfort that , including dividends,their trailing twelve month loss of 8.8% wasn't as bad as the market loss of around 17%. Of far more concern is the 9% p.a. loss served to shareholders over the last five years. While the losses are slowing we doubt many shareholders are happy with the stock. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank you should know about.

Of course Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.

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