While it may not be enough for some shareholders, we think it is good to see the McEwen Mining Inc. (NYSE:MUX) share price up 11% in a single quarter. But over the last half decade, the stock has not performed well. In fact, the share price is down 44%, which falls well short of the return you could get by buying an index fund.

After losing 11% this past week, it's worth investigating the company's fundamentals to see what we can infer from past performance.

Check out our latest analysis for McEwen Mining

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. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.

McEwen Mining became profitable within the last five years. That would generally be considered a positive, so we are surprised to see the share price is down. Other metrics may better explain the share price move.

Revenue is actually up 8.1% over the time period. So it seems one might have to take closer look at the fundamentals to understand why the share price languishes. After all, there may be an opportunity.

You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

It's probably worth noting that the CEO is paid less than the median at similar sized companies. It's always worth keeping an eye on CEO pay, but a more important question is whether the company will grow earnings throughout the years. If you are thinking of buying or selling McEwen Mining stock, you should check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.

A Different Perspective

We're pleased to report that McEwen Mining shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 37% over one year. Notably the five-year annualised TSR loss of 8% per year compares very unfavourably with the recent share price performance. The long term loss makes us cautious, but the short term TSR gain certainly hints at a brighter future. 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 3 warning signs we've spotted with McEwen Mining (including 2 which can't be ignored) .

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: many of them are unnoticed AND have attractive valuation).