In order to justify the effort of selecting individual stocks, it's worth striving to beat the returns from a market index fund. But even the best stock picker will only win with some selections. So we wouldn't blame long term Pioneer Global Group Limited (HKG:224) shareholders for doubting their decision to hold, with the stock down 38% over a half decade.

Although the past week has been more reassuring for shareholders, they're still in the red over the last five years, so let's see if the underlying business has been responsible for the decline.

Check out our latest analysis for Pioneer Global Group

To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. 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 the five years over which the share price declined, Pioneer Global Group's earnings per share (EPS) dropped by 40% each year. The share price decline of 9% per year isn't as bad as the EPS decline. So the market may previously have expected a drop, or else it expects the situation will improve.

The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

This free interactive report on Pioneer Global Group'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)?

We've already covered Pioneer Global Group's share price action, but we should also mention its total shareholder return (TSR). 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. Pioneer Global Group's TSR of was a loss of 32% for the 5 years. That wasn't as bad as its share price return, because it has paid dividends.

A Different Perspective

It's nice to see that Pioneer Global Group shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 21% over the last year. There's no doubt those recent returns are much better than the TSR loss of 6% per year over five years. The long term loss makes us cautious, but the short term TSR gain certainly hints at a brighter future. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Pioneer Global Group (of which 1 is significant!) you should know about.

We will like Pioneer Global Group better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

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.