Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN) shareholders are up 6.8% this past week, but still in the red over the last five years

Simply Wall St · 10/25 10:33

Ideally, your overall portfolio should beat the market average. But even the best stock picker will only win with some selections. So we wouldn't blame long term Shenandoah Telecommunications Company (NASDAQ:SHEN) shareholders for doubting their decision to hold, with the stock down 53% over a half decade. And it's not just long term holders hurting, because the stock is down 39% in the last year. Furthermore, it's down 28% in about a quarter. That's not much fun for holders.

On a more encouraging note the company has added US$52m to its market cap in just the last 7 days, so let's see if we can determine what's driven the five-year loss for shareholders.

View our latest analysis for Shenandoah Telecommunications

Given that Shenandoah Telecommunications didn't make a profit in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue growth to form a quick view of its business development. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. That's because it's hard to be confident a company will be sustainable if revenue growth is negligible, and it never makes a profit.

In the last half decade, Shenandoah Telecommunications saw its revenue increase by 3.0% per year. That's far from impressive given all the money it is losing. This lacklustre growth has no doubt fueled the loss of 9% per year, in that time. We want to see an acceleration of revenue growth (or profits) before showing much interest in this one. However, it's possible too many in the market will ignore it, and there may be an opportunity if it starts to recover down the track.

You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

earnings-and-revenue-growth
NasdaqGS:SHEN Earnings and Revenue Growth October 25th 2024

It's probably worth noting we've seen significant insider buying in the last quarter, which we consider a positive. On the other hand, we think the revenue and earnings trends are much more meaningful measures of the business. You can see what analysts are predicting for Shenandoah Telecommunications in this interactive graph of future profit estimates.

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. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. In the case of Shenandoah Telecommunications, it has a TSR of -24% for the last 5 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

Investors in Shenandoah Telecommunications had a tough year, with a total loss of 38% (including dividends), against a market gain of about 42%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 4% over the last half decade. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. 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. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for Shenandoah Telecommunications you should be aware of.

Shenandoah Telecommunications is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of small cap companies at attractive valuations which insiders have been buying.

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