These days it’s easy to simply buy an index fund, and your returns should (roughly) match the market. But you can significantly boost your returns by picking above-average stocks. For example, the APA Group (ASX:APA) share price is up 29% in the last 1 year, clearly besting the market return of around 10% (not including dividends). That’s a solid performance by our standards! Zooming out, the stock is actually down 13% in the last three years.
So let’s investigate and see if the longer term performance of the company has been in line with the underlying business’ progress.
To quote Buffett, ‘Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace…’ 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).
APA Group went from making a loss to reporting a profit, in the last year.
When a company is just on the edge of profitability it can be well worth considering other metrics in order to more precisely gauge growth (and therefore understand share price movements).
For starters, we suspect the share price has been buoyed by the dividend, which was increased during the year. Income-seeking investors probably helped bid up the stock price. Though we must add that the revenue growth of 4.6% year on year would have helped paint a pretty picture.
You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).
ASX:APA Earnings and Revenue Growth October 28th 2025
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. If you are thinking of buying or selling APA Group stock, you should check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.
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. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. We note that for APA Group the TSR over the last 1 year was 39%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. And there’s no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!
We’re pleased to report that APA Group shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 39% over one year. That’s including the dividend. That’s better than the annualised return of 3% over half a decade, implying that the company is doing better recently. Given the share price momentum remains strong, it might be worth taking a closer look at the stock, lest you miss an opportunity. It’s always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand APA Group better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we’ve discovered 3 warning signs for APA Group (2 shouldn’t be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing here.
There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of undervalued small cap companies that insiders are buying.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on Australian exchanges.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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.