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Those who invested in Coastal Financial (NASDAQ:CCB) three years ago are up 175%

The most you can lose on any stock (assuming you don't use leverage) is 100% of your money. But if you buy shares in a really great company, you can more than double your money. For example, the Coastal Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CCB) share price has soared 175% in the last three years. Most would be happy with that. Better yet, the share price has risen 8.5% in the last week.

So let's assess the underlying fundamentals over the last 3 years and see if they've moved in lock-step with shareholder returns.

View our latest analysis for Coastal Financial

While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. 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 three years of share price growth, Coastal Financial achieved compound earnings per share growth of 41% per year. Notably, the 40% average annual share price gain matches up nicely with the EPS growth rate. That suggests that the market sentiment around the company hasn't changed much over that time. Quite to the contrary, the share price has arguably reflected the EPS growth.

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

earnings-per-share-growth
earnings-per-share-growth

We consider it positive that insiders have made significant purchases in the last year. Even so, future earnings will be far more important to whether current shareholders make money. This free interactive report on Coastal Financial's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

We can sympathize with Coastal Financial about their 2.3% loss for the year, but the silver lining is that the broader market return was worse, at around -8.1%. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 40%, each year, over three years. Given the three year returns are better than the return over the last year, it might be that the broader market has weighed on the stock recently. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Coastal Financial better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 3 warning signs with Coastal Financial , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

Coastal Financial is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

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

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