The main point of investing for the long term is to make money. Better yet, you'd like to see the share price move up more than the market average. But SEEK Limited (ASX:SEK) has fallen short of that second goal, with a share price rise of 65% over five years, which is below the market return. Zooming in, the stock is actually down 8.6% in the last year.

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 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).

SEEK's earnings per share are down 21% per year, despite strong share price performance over five years.

Essentially, it doesn't seem likely that investors are focused on EPS. Since the change in EPS doesn't seem to correlate with the change in share price, it's worth taking a look at other metrics.

The modest 1.4% dividend yield is unlikely to be propping up the share price. In contrast revenue growth of 3.7% per year is probably viewed as evidence that SEEK is growing, a real positive. It's quite possible that management are prioritizing revenue growth over EPS growth at the moment.

The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

SEEK is well known by investors, and plenty of clever analysts have tried to predict the future profit levels. If you are thinking of buying or selling SEEK stock, you should check out this free report showing analyst consensus estimates for future profits.

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 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 SEEK the TSR over the last 5 years was 78%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

Investors in SEEK had a tough year, with a total loss of 7.0% (including dividends), against a market gain of about 4.6%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. On the bright side, long term shareholders have made money, with a gain of 12% 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. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand SEEK better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that SEEK is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...

Of course SEEK may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on Australian exchanges.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.