The one-year returns have been for Pactiv Evergreen (NASDAQ:PTVE) shareholders despite underlying losses increasing

There's no doubt that investing in the stock market is a truly brilliant way to build wealth. But not every stock you buy will perform as well as the overall market. Unfortunately for shareholders, while the Pactiv Evergreen Inc. (NASDAQ:PTVE) share price is up 11% in the last year, that falls short of the market return. Note that businesses generally develop over the long term, so the returns over the last year might not reflect a long term trend.

On the back of a solid 7-day performance, let's check what role the company's fundamentals have played in driving long term shareholder returns.

View our latest analysis for Pactiv Evergreen

Pactiv Evergreen isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.

In the last year Pactiv Evergreen saw its revenue shrink by 0.9%. The lacklustre gain of 11% over twelve months, is not a bad result given the falling revenue. Generally we're pretty unenthusiastic about loss making stocks that are not growing revenue.

The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

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 Pactiv Evergreen stock, you should check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.

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. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. As it happens, Pactiv Evergreen's TSR for the last 1 year was 13%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!

A Different Perspective

Pactiv Evergreen shareholders have gained 13% for the year (even including dividends). While it's always nice to make a profit on the stock market, we do note that the TSR was no better than the broader market return of about 40%. The last three months haven't been great for shareholder returns, since the share price has trailed the market by 4.7% in the last three months. But a weak quarter certainly doesn't diminish the longer-term achievements of the business. 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. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Pactiv Evergreen that you should be aware of.

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

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

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.

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