Magellan Financial Group Limited (ASX:MFG) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 20% in the last month. But that is meagre solace in the face of the shocking decline over three years. In that time the share price has melted like a snowball in the desert, down 77%. So we're relieved for long term holders to see a bit of uplift. Only time will tell if the company can sustain the turnaround.

While the stock has risen 7.8% in the past week but long term shareholders are still in the red, let's see what the fundamentals can tell us.

See our latest analysis for Magellan Financial Group

To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

Magellan Financial Group saw its EPS decline at a compound rate of 20% per year, over the last three years. This reduction in EPS is slower than the 39% annual reduction in the share price. So it's likely that the EPS decline has disappointed the market, leaving investors hesitant to buy. The less favorable sentiment is reflected in its current P/E ratio of 9.20.

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

We consider it positive that insiders have made significant purchases in the last year. Having said that, most people consider earnings and revenue growth trends to be a more meaningful guide to the business. Before buying or selling a stock, we always recommend a close examination of historic growth trends, available here..

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. In the case of Magellan Financial Group, it has a TSR of -70% for the last 3 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

A Different Perspective

We're pleased to report that Magellan Financial Group shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 39% over one year. That's including the dividend. Notably the five-year annualised TSR loss of 10% per year compares very unfavourably with the recent share price performance. We generally put more weight on the long term performance over the short term, but the recent improvement could hint at a (positive) inflection point within the business. 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. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Magellan Financial Group (including 1 which is concerning) .