Buying shares in the best businesses can build meaningful wealth for you and your family. While the best companies are hard to find, but they can generate massive returns over long periods. Just think about the savvy investors who held Cerillion Plc (LON:CER) shares for the last five years, while they gained 524%. And this is just one example of the epic gains achieved by some long term investors. In more good news, the share price has risen 31% in thirty days. It really delights us to see such great share price performance for investors.

So let’s assess the underlying fundamentals over the last 5 years and see if they’ve moved in lock-step with shareholder 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 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).

Over half a decade, Cerillion managed to grow its earnings per share at 46% a year. This EPS growth is remarkably close to the 44% average annual increase in the share price. This indicates that investor sentiment towards the company has not changed a great deal. Indeed, it would appear the share price is reacting to the EPS.

You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

We know that Cerillion has improved its bottom line over the last three years, but what does the future have in store? If you are thinking of buying or selling Cerillion stock, you should check out this FREE detailed report on its balance sheet.

As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the 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. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. As it happens, Cerillion’s TSR for the last 5 years was 555%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

It’s nice to see that Cerillion shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 13% over the last year. Of course, that includes the dividend. Having said that, the five-year TSR of 46% a year, is even better. Potential buyers might understandably feel they’ve missed the opportunity, but it’s always possible business is still firing on all cylinders. 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. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We’ve identified 1 warning sign with Cerillion , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.