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Colruyt Group's (EBR:COLR) investors will be pleased with their respectable 71% return over the last three years

Simply Wall St · 2d ago

It hasn't been the best quarter for Colruyt Group N.V. (EBR:COLR) shareholders, since the share price has fallen 12% in that time. But don't let that distract from the very nice return generated over three years. In fact, the company's share price bested the return of its market index in that time, posting a gain of 57%.

Let's take a look at the underlying fundamentals over the longer term, and see if they've been consistent with shareholders returns.

We've found 21 US stocks that are forecast to pay a dividend yield of over 6% next year. See the full list for free.

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

During three years of share price growth, Colruyt Group achieved compound earnings per share growth of 9.9% per year. This EPS growth is lower than the 16% average annual increase in the share price. This indicates that the market is feeling more optimistic on the stock, after the last few years of progress. That's not necessarily surprising considering the three-year track record of earnings growth.

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

earnings-per-share-growth
ENXTBR:COLR Earnings Per Share Growth December 12th 2025

We're pleased to report that the CEO is remunerated more modestly than most CEOs at similarly capitalized companies. But while CEO remuneration is always worth checking, the really important question is whether the company can grow earnings going forward. Before buying or selling a stock, we always recommend a close examination of historic growth trends, available here..

What About Dividends?

It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. 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. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. As it happens, Colruyt Group's TSR for the last 3 years was 71%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 19% in the last year, Colruyt Group shareholders lost 11% (even including dividends). However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. 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. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. 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. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Colruyt Group that you should be aware of before investing here.

But note: Colruyt Group 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 Belgian exchanges.