If you are building a properly diversified stock portfolio, the chances are some of your picks will perform badly. Long term EKF Diagnostics Holdings plc (LON:EKF) shareholders know that all too well, since the share price is down considerably over three years. Regrettably, they have had to cope with a 67% drop in the share price over that period. Unfortunately the share price momentum is still quite negative, with prices down 13% in 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.

View our latest analysis for EKF Diagnostics Holdings

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.

EKF Diagnostics Holdings 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. So given the share price is down it's worth checking some other metrics too.

We note that the dividend seems healthy enough, so that probably doesn't explain the share price drop. On the other hand, the uninspired reduction in revenue, at 18% each year, may have shareholders ditching the stock. This could have some investors worried about the longer term growth potential (or lack thereof).

The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

We know that EKF Diagnostics Holdings has improved its bottom line lately, but what does the future have in store? You can see what analysts are predicting for EKF Diagnostics Holdings in this interactive graph of future profit estimates.

What About Dividends?

It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. 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 EKF Diagnostics Holdings, it has a TSR of -64% for the last 3 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!