Verra Mobility Corporation (NASDAQ:VRRM) shareholders might be concerned after seeing the share price drop 15% in the last quarter. But at least the stock is up over the last five years. Unfortunately its return of 70% is below the market return of 97%.

Now it's worth having a look at the company's fundamentals too, because that will help us determine if the long term shareholder return has matched the performance of the underlying business.

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 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).

During the last half decade, Verra Mobility became profitable. That's generally thought to be a genuine positive, so investors may expect to see an increasing share price. Since the company was unprofitable five years ago, but not three years ago, it's worth taking a look at the returns in the last three years, too. Indeed, the Verra Mobility share price has gained 51% in three years. Meanwhile, EPS is up 129% per year. This EPS growth is higher than the 15% average annual increase in the share price over the same three years. So you might conclude the market is a little more cautious about the stock, these days.

You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

It is of course excellent to see how Verra Mobility has grown profits over the years, but the future is more important for shareholders. This free interactive report on Verra Mobility's balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

Verra Mobility shareholders are up 3.0% for the year. Unfortunately this falls short of the market return. It's probably a good sign that the company has an even better long term track record, having provided shareholders with an annual TSR of 11% over five years. Maybe the share price is just taking a breather while the business executes on its growth strategy. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Verra Mobility better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Verra Mobility (including 1 which is a bit concerning) .

But note: Verra Mobility may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with past earnings growth (and further growth forecast).

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on American exchanges.

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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.