The past three years for Spirax Group (LON:SPX) investors has not been profitable

Simply Wall St

Tue, February 10, 2026 at 2:22 PM GMT+9 3 min read

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SPXSF

-0.81%

SPXSY

+3.98%

For many investors, the main point of stock picking is to generate higher returns than the overall market. But the risk of stock picking is that you will likely buy under-performing companies. Unfortunately, that’s been the case for longer term Spirax Group plc (LON:SPX) shareholders, since the share price is down 37% in the last three years, falling well short of the market return of around 44%.

Since shareholders are down over the longer term, lets look at the underlying fundamentals over the that time and see if they’ve been consistent with returns.

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To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it’s a weighing machine. 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.

During the three years that the share price fell, Spirax Group’s earnings per share (EPS) dropped by 10.0% each year. The share price decline of 14% is actually steeper than the EPS slippage. So it seems the market was too confident about the business, in the past.

The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

LSE:SPX Earnings Per Share Growth February 10th 2026

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 Spirax Group’s earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

What About Dividends?

As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). 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. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. In the case of Spirax Group, it has a TSR of -33% for the last 3 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 24% in the last year, Spirax Group shareholders lost 0.6% (even including dividends). Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Unfortunately, longer term shareholders are suffering worse, given the loss of 6% doled out over the last five years. We’d need to see some sustained improvements in the key metrics before we could muster much enthusiasm. It’s always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Spirax Group better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the ** 1 warning sign ** we’ve spotted with Spirax Group .

Story Continues  

Spirax Group is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find lesser know companies this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

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