It might be of some concern to shareholders to see the Carpenter Technology Corporation (NYSE:CRS) share price down 14% in the last month. But don't let that distract from the very nice return generated over three years. After all, the share price is up a market-beating 87% in that time.

Since the long term performance has been good but there's been a recent pullback of 6.2%, let's check if the fundamentals match the share price.

View our latest analysis for Carpenter Technology

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 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.

During three years of share price growth, Carpenter Technology moved from a loss to profitability. So we would expect a higher share price over the period.

The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

It is of course excellent to see how Carpenter Technology has grown profits over the years, but the future is more important for shareholders. This free interactive report on Carpenter Technology's balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. In the case of Carpenter Technology, it has a TSR of 99% for the last 3 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

It's nice to see that Carpenter Technology shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 35% over the last year. And that does include the dividend. That's better than the annualised return of 8% over half a decade, implying that the company is doing better recently. Given the share price momentum remains strong, it might be worth taking a closer look at the stock, lest you miss an opportunity. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Carpenter Technology better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Carpenter Technology .

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 American 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.