Should You Worry About Agree Realty Corporation's (NYSE:ADC) CEO Pay Cheque?

In 2013 Joey Agree was appointed CEO of Agree Realty Corporation (NYSE:ADC). 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 Agree Realty

How Does Joey Agree's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

At the time of writing, our data says that Agree Realty Corporation has a market cap of US$3.5b, and reported total annual CEO compensation of US$4.9m for the year to December 2018. While we always look at total compensation first, we note that the salary component is less, at US$610k. We note that more than half of the total compensation is not the salary; and performance requirements may apply to this non-salary portion. When we examined a selection of companies with market caps ranging from US$2.0b to US$6.4b, we found the median CEO total compensation was US$5.1m.

That means Joey Agree receives fairly typical remuneration for the CEO of a company that size. While this data point isn't particularly informative alone, it gains more meaning when considered with business performance.

You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Agree Realty has changed over time.

Is Agree Realty Corporation Growing?

Over the last three years Agree Realty Corporation has shrunk its earnings per share by an average of 5.3% per year (measured with a line of best fit). Its revenue is up 37% over last year.

The reduction in earnings per share, over three years, is arguably concerning. But in contrast the revenue growth is strong, suggesting future potential for earnings growth. It's hard to reach a conclusion about business performance right now. This may be one to watch. You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings.

Has Agree Realty Corporation Been A Good Investment?

Most shareholders would probably be pleased with Agree Realty Corporation for providing a total return of 75% over three years. 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...

Joey Agree is paid around what is normal for the leaders of comparable size companies.

The company isn't showing particularly great growth, but shareholder returns have been pleasing. So we can conclude that on this analysis the CEO compensation seems pretty sound. Moving away from CEO compensation for the moment, we've identified 2 warning signs for Agree Realty that you should be aware of before investing.

If you want to buy a stock that is better than Agree Realty, 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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