While much investor excitement in the tech space recently has been focused on the fast-growing AfterPay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT) share price, there's a far more established digital business that has thumped its returns, albeit over a far longer time frame.
It's not a relative start-up either like cloud accounting business Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) or software logistics business WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC).
But every share market investor in Australia will know it and be familiar with its administrative services.
In fact, you could say it's right under their noses.
Its share price is down 1% today, but its management did boast at today's AGM how it has returned 16,204% since its May 1994 IPO versus 204% for the wider S&P / ASX200 (ASX: XJO).
The company is Computershare Limited (ASX: CPU) and it's a good demonstration of the power of compounding and buy-to-hold-quality-company investment strategies, as over this period the Computershare share price has taken many big falls as well.
For example, between July and August 2015 the stock lost 25% of its value in weeks but still went on to double again over the next three years.
In fact, despite October 2018's stock market crash, Computershare shares are up 20% plus dividends over the course of 2018 after the group grew earnings per share an impressive 14.1% over the 12 months ending June 30, 2018.
Over the year it also delivered record dividends of 63.4 US cents, with the final full year dividend lifted 11%.
What's more important is that the group today confirmed it is "confidently" forecasting management earnings per share growth of around 10% over the course of FY 2019.
The group has managed to grow over the years organically and via a lot of acquisitions that have recently seen it move deep into the mortgage services business in the UK and US.
Its long-term success also shows how important it is to find businesses with attractive economics in generating organic growth, alongside recurring revenues on good profit margins.
Given its track record and forecast for another year of double-digit growth, Computershare looks about fair value on 22x trailing earnings per share.
