The 6.5% return this week takes Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de Normandie-Seine Société coopérative's (EPA:CCN) shareholders three-year gains to 101%

Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de Normandie-Seine Société coopérative (EPA:CCN) shareholders might be concerned after seeing the share price drop 13% in the last quarter. But don't let that distract from the very nice return generated over three years. To wit, the share price did better than an index fund, climbing 76% during that period.

Since the stock has added €46m to its market cap in the past week alone, let's see if underlying performance has been driving long-term returns.

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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.

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. 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. In the case of Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de Normandie-Seine Société coopérative, it has a TSR of 101% 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 good to see that Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de Normandie-Seine Société coopérative has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 51% in the last twelve months. That's including the dividend. That's better than the annualised return of 6% over half a decade, implying that the company is doing better recently. Someone with an optimistic perspective could view the recent improvement in TSR as indicating that the business itself is getting better with time. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de Normandie-Seine Société coopérative that you should be aware of before investing here.

But note: Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de Normandie-Seine Société coopérative may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with past earnings growth (and further growth forecast).

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