John Hayes became the CEO of Ball Corporation (NYSE:BLL) in 2011. This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other large companies. After that, we will consider the growth in the business. And finally we will reflect on how common stockholders have fared in the last few years, as a secondary measure of performance. This process should give us an idea about how appropriately the CEO is paid.
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How Does John Hayes’s Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
According to our data, Ball Corporation has a market capitalization of US$25b, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth US$11m over the year to December 2018. While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it’s worth noting the salary is lower, valued at US$1.3m. We further remind readers that the CEO may face performance requirements to receive the non-salary part of the total compensation. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations over US$8.0b and the median CEO total compensation was US$11m. There aren’t very many mega-cap companies, so we had to take a wide range to get a meaningful comparison figure.
So John Hayes is paid around the average of the companies we looked at. Although this fact alone doesn’t tell us a great deal, it becomes more relevant when considered against the business performance.
You can see a visual representation of the CEO compensation at Ball, below.
Is Ball Corporation Growing?
On average over the last three years, Ball Corporation has grown earnings per share (EPS) by 22% each year (using a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue is down 1.4%.
This demonstrates that the company has been improving recently. A good result. While it would be good to see revenue growth, profits matter more in the end. Shareholders might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts.
Has Ball Corporation Been A Good Investment?
I think that the total shareholder return of 117%, over three years, would leave most Ball Corporation shareholders smiling. So they may not be at all concerned if the CEO were to be paid more than is normal for companies around the same size.
In Summary…
Remuneration for John Hayes is close enough to the median pay for a CEO of a large company .
Few would be critical of the leadership, since returns have been juicy and earnings per share are moving in the right direction. So one could argue the CEO compensation is quite modest, if you consider company performance! CEO compensation is one thing, but it is also interesting to check if the CEO is buying or selling Ball (free visualization of insider trades).
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.
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