How Should Investors React To Huntington Bancshares Incorporated's (NASDAQ:HBAN) CEO Pay?

Steve Steinour has been the CEO of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) since 2009. This report will, first, examine the CEO compensation levels in comparison to CEO compensation at other big companies. After that, we will consider the growth in the business. And finally - as a second measure of performance - we will look at the returns shareholders have received over the last few years. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels.

Check out our latest analysis for Huntington Bancshares

How Does Steve Steinour's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

According to our data, Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a market capitalization of US$15b, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth US$8.6m over the year to December 2018. While we always look at total compensation first, we note that the salary component is less, at US$1.1m. 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. (We took a wide range because the CEOs of massive companies tend to be paid similar amounts - even though some are quite a bit bigger than others).

That means Steve Steinour receives fairly typical remuneration for the CEO of a large company. This doesn't tell us a whole lot on its own, but looking at the performance of the actual business will give us useful context.

You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Huntington Bancshares has changed over time.

Is Huntington Bancshares Incorporated Growing?

Over the last three years Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has grown its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 24% per year (using a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue is up 5.9%.

This shows that the company has improved itself over the last few years. Good news for shareholders. It's nice to see a little revenue growth, as this is consistent with healthy business conditions. It could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.

Has Huntington Bancshares Incorporated Been A Good Investment?

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has served shareholders reasonably well, with a total return of 22% over three years. But they probably wouldn't be so happy as to think the CEO should be paid more than is normal, for companies around this size.

In Summary...

Steve Steinour is paid around what is normal the leaders of larger companies.

The company is growing EPS but shareholder returns have been sound but not amazing. As a result of these considerations, I would suggest the CEO pay is reasonable. Shareholders may want to check for free if Huntington Bancshares insiders are buying or selling shares.

If you want to buy a stock that is better than Huntington Bancshares, this free list of high return, low debt companies is a great place to look.

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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