The most you can lose on any stock (assuming you don’t use leverage) is 100% of your money. But if you buy shares in a really great company, you can more than double your money. To wit, the Fleetwood Limited (ASX:FWD) share price has flown 110% in the last three years. That sort of return is as solid as granite. Also pleasing for shareholders was the 24% gain in the last three months.

So let’s investigate and see if the longer term performance of the company has been in line with the underlying business’ progress.

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There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. 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.

During three years of share price growth, Fleetwood moved from a loss to profitability. That kind of transition can be an inflection point that justifies a strong share price gain, just as we have seen here.

The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

We know that Fleetwood 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 Fleetwood 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 incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. We note that for Fleetwood the TSR over the last 3 years was 140%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

It’s good to see that Fleetwood has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 82% in the last twelve months. And that does include the dividend. That’s better than the annualised return of 17% over half a decade, implying that the company is doing better recently. In the best case scenario, this may hint at some real business momentum, implying that now could be a great time to delve deeper. 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 instance, we’ve identified 2 warning signs for Fleetwood that you should be aware of.