Investors can approximate the average market return by buying an index fund. But if you buy individual stocks, you can do both better or worse than that. For example, the Mach Natural Resources LP (NYSE:MNR) share price is down 11% in the last year. That contrasts poorly with the market return of 24%. Mach Natural Resources hasn't been listed for long, so although we're wary of recent listings that perform poorly, it may still prove itself with time. And the share price decline continued over the last week, dropping some 11%.

With the stock having lost 11% in the past week, it's worth taking a look at business performance and seeing if there's any red flags.

View our latest analysis for Mach Natural Resources

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 imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.

During the last year Mach Natural Resources saw its earnings per share drop below zero. While this may prove temporary, we'd consider it a negative, so it doesn't surprise us that the stock price is down. However, there may be an opportunity for investors if the company can recover.

The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

Dive deeper into Mach Natural Resources' key metrics by checking this interactive graph of Mach Natural Resources's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

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 is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. We note that for Mach Natural Resources the TSR over the last 1 year was 5.9%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

A Different Perspective

We're happy to report that Mach Natural Resources are up 5.9% over the year (even including dividends). Unfortunately this falls short of the market return of around 24%. The stock trailed the market by 5.0% in that time, testament to the power of passive investing. But a weak quarter certainly doesn't diminish the longer-term achievements of the business. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Mach Natural Resources better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks, for example - Mach Natural Resources has 2 warning signs (and 1 which is significant) we think you should know about.

We will like Mach Natural Resources better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued stocks (mostly small caps) with considerable, recent, insider buying.

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.