Ideally, your overall portfolio should beat the market average. But every investor is virtually certain to have both over-performing and under-performing stocks. So we wouldn't blame long term Bank of Queensland Limited (ASX:BOQ) shareholders for doubting their decision to hold, with the stock down 39% over a half decade.

So let's have a look and see if the longer term performance of the company has been in line with the underlying business' progress.

See our latest analysis for Bank of Queensland

In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. 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).

Looking back five years, both Bank of Queensland's share price and EPS declined; the latter at a rate of 13% per year. This fall in the EPS is worse than the 9% compound annual share price fall. The relatively muted share price reaction might be because the market expects the business to turn around.

The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

We're pleased to report that the CEO is remunerated more modestly than most CEOs at similarly capitalized companies. But while CEO remuneration is always worth checking, the really important question is whether the company can grow earnings going forward. Dive deeper into the earnings by checking this interactive graph of Bank of Queensland's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. 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. In the case of Bank of Queensland, it has a TSR of -18% for the last 5 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

Bank of Queensland's TSR for the year was broadly in line with the market average, at 14%. To take a positive view, the gain is pleasing, and it sure beats annualized TSR loss of 3%, which was endured over half a decade. We're pretty skeptical of turnaround stories, but it's good to see the recent share price recovery. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Bank of Queensland better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Bank of Queensland you should be aware of.