Investing in stocks inevitably means buying into some companies that perform poorly. But the last three years have been particularly tough on longer term Entravision Communications Corporation (NYSE:EVC) shareholders. Sadly for them, the share price is down 71% in that time. And over the last year the share price fell 49%, so we doubt many shareholders are delighted. In contrast, the stock price has popped 9.5% in the last thirty days.

With that in mind, it's worth seeing if the company's underlying fundamentals have been the driver of long term performance, or if there are some discrepancies.

Check out our latest analysis for Entravision Communications

Because Entravision Communications made a loss in the last twelve months, we think the market is probably more focussed on revenue and revenue growth, at least for now. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. That's because it's hard to be confident a company will be sustainable if revenue growth is negligible, and it never makes a profit.

In the last three years, Entravision Communications saw its revenue grow by 16% per year, compound. That's a fairly respectable growth rate. So it seems unlikely the 20% share price drop (each year) is entirely about the revenue. More likely, the market was spooked by the cost of that revenue. This is exactly why investors need to diversify - even when a loss making company grows revenue, it can fail to deliver for shareholders.

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

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. This free interactive report on Entravision Communications' earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

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. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. As it happens, Entravision Communications' TSR for the last 3 years was -68%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.