It might seem bad, but the worst that can happen when you buy a stock (without leverage) is that its share price goes to zero. But in contrast you can make much more than 100% if the company does well. To wit, the Orion Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ORN) share price has flown 249% in the last three years. How nice for those who held the stock! It’s also good to see the share price up 66% over the last quarter.

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.

Given that Orion Group Holdings only made minimal earnings in the last twelve months, we’ll focus on revenue to gauge its business development. As a general rule, we think this kind of company is more comparable to loss-making stocks, since the actual profit is so low. For shareholders to have confidence a company will grow profits significantly, it must grow revenue.

Orion Group Holdings’ revenue trended up 6.0% each year over three years. Considering the company is losing money, we think that rate of revenue growth is uninspiring. In contrast, the stock has popped 52% per year in that time – an impressive result. We’d need to take a closer look at the revenue and profit trends to see whether the improvements might justify that sort of increase. It may be that the market is pretty optimistic about Orion Group Holdings if you look to the bottom line.

The graphic below depicts how earnings and revenue have changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Having said that, most people consider earnings and revenue growth trends to be a more meaningful guide to the business. You can see what analysts are predicting for Orion Group Holdings in this interactive graph of future profit estimates.

While the broader market gained around 14% in the last year, Orion Group Holdings shareholders lost 13%. 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. On the bright side, long term shareholders have made money, with a gain of 27% per year over half a decade. If the fundamental data continues to indicate long term sustainable growth, the current sell-off could be an opportunity worth considering. 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. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We’ve identified 3 warning signs with Orion Group Holdings , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.