Is Inogen, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:INGN) CEO Paid Enough Relative To Peers?

Scott Wilkinson became the CEO of Inogen, Inc. (NASDAQ:INGN) in 2017. First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at similar sized 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.

View our latest analysis for Inogen

How Does Scott Wilkinson's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

According to our data, Inogen, Inc. has a market capitalization of US$1.0b, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth US$2.7m over the year to December 2018. While we always look at total compensation first, we note that the salary component is less, at US$494k. We further remind readers that the CEO may face performance requirements to receive the non-salary part of the total compensation. We examined companies with market caps from US$400m to US$1.6b, and discovered that the median CEO total compensation of that group was US$2.7m.

So Scott Wilkinson receives a similar amount to the median CEO pay, amongst the companies we looked at. 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 Inogen has changed over time.

Is Inogen, Inc. Growing?

Inogen, Inc. has increased its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 32% a year, over the last three years (using a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue is up 21%.

This demonstrates that the company has been improving recently. A good result. It's also good to see decent revenue growth in the last year, suggesting the business is healthy and growing.

Has Inogen, Inc. Been A Good Investment?

With a three year total loss of 22%, Inogen, Inc. would certainly have some dissatisfied shareholders. This suggests it would be unwise for the company to pay the CEO too generously.

In Summary...

Scott Wilkinson is paid around the same as most CEOs of similar size companies.

We like that the company is growing EPS, but it's disappointing to see negative shareholder returns over three years. Considering the the positives we don't think the CEO pays is too high, but it's certainly hard to argue it is too low. If you think CEO compensation levels are interesting you will probably really like this free visualization of insider trading at Inogen.

Arguably, business quality is much more important than CEO compensation levels. So check out this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

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. Thank you for reading.