What Did Zebra Technologies' (NASDAQ:ZBRA) CEO Take Home Last Year?

This article will reflect on the compensation paid to Anders Gustafsson who has served as CEO of Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA) since 2007. This analysis will also evaluate the appropriateness of CEO compensation when taking into account the earnings and shareholder returns of the company.

See our latest analysis for Zebra Technologies

Comparing Zebra Technologies Corporation's CEO Compensation With the industry

According to our data, Zebra Technologies Corporation has a market capitalization of US$15b, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth US$10m over the year to December 2019. That's a modest increase of 6.9% on the prior year. While we always look at total compensation first, our analysis shows that the salary component is less, at US$1.1m.

On comparing similar companies in the industry with market capitalizations above US$8.0b, we found that the median total CEO compensation was US$7.4m. Hence, we can conclude that Anders Gustafsson is remunerated higher than the industry median. What's more, Anders Gustafsson holds US$69m worth of shares in the company in their own name, indicating that they have a lot of skin in the game.

Talking in terms of the industry, salary represented approximately 36% of total compensation out of all the companies we analyzed, while other remuneration made up 64% of the pie. Zebra Technologies sets aside a smaller share of compensation for salary, in comparison to the overall industry. If total compensation is slanted towards non-salary benefits, it indicates that CEO pay is linked to company performance.

A Look at Zebra Technologies Corporation's Growth Numbers

Over the past three years, Zebra Technologies Corporation has seen its earnings per share (EPS) grow by 84% per year. In the last year, its revenue is up 3.8%.

Overall this is a positive result for shareholders, showing that the company has improved in recent years. It's nice to see revenue heading northwards, as this is consistent with healthy business conditions. Historical performance can sometimes be a good indicator on what's coming up next but if you want to peer into the company's future you might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts.

Has Zebra Technologies Corporation Been A Good Investment?

We think that the total shareholder return of 169%, over three years, would leave most Zebra Technologies Corporation shareholders smiling. This strong performance might mean some shareholders don't mind if the CEO were to be paid more than is normal for a company of its size.

In Summary...

As we noted earlier, Zebra Technologies pays its CEO higher than the norm for similar-sized companies belonging to the same industry. However, Zebra Technologies has produced strong earnings growth and shareholder returns over the last three years. Considering such exceptional results for the company, we'd venture to say CEO compensation is fair. Given the strong history of shareholder returns, the shareholders are probably very happy with Anders's performance.

CEO compensation is a crucial aspect to keep your eyes on but investors also need to keep their eyes open for other issues related to business performance. That's why we did some digging and identified 3 warning signs for Zebra Technologies that investors should think about before committing capital to this stock.

Important note: Zebra Technologies is an exciting stock, but we understand investors may be looking for an unencumbered balance sheet and blockbuster returns. You might find something better in this list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

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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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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