Passive investing in index funds can generate returns that roughly match the overall market. But you can significantly boost your returns by picking above-average stocks. For example, the Orell Füssli AG (VTX:OFN) share price is up 49% in the last 1 year, clearly besting the market return of around 3.2% (not including dividends). That’s a solid performance by our standards! Looking back further, the stock price is 42% higher than it was three years ago.

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

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 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.

Orell Füssli was able to grow EPS by 118% in the last twelve months. It’s fair to say that the share price gain of 49% did not keep pace with the EPS growth. Therefore, it seems the market isn’t as excited about Orell Füssli as it was before. This could be an opportunity. This cautious sentiment is reflected in its (fairly low) P/E ratio of 11.75.

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

We know that Orell Füssli has improved its bottom line lately, but is it going to grow revenue? If you’re interested, you could check this free report showing consensus revenue forecasts.

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. It’s fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. In the case of Orell Füssli, it has a TSR of 56% for the last 1 year. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

We’re pleased to report that Orell Füssli shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 56% over one year. That’s including the dividend. Since the one-year TSR is better than the five-year TSR (the latter coming in at 8% per year), it would seem that the stock’s performance has improved in recent times. In the best case scenario, this may hint at some real business momentum, implying that now could be a great time to delve deeper. 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 Orell Füssli that you should be aware of before investing here.