Why Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated's (NYSE:JLL) CEO Pay Matters To You

Christian Ulbrich has been the CEO of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (NYSE:JLL) since 2016. First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at similar sized companies. Next, we'll consider growth that the business demonstrates. Third, we'll reflect on the total return to shareholders over three years, as a second measure of business performance. This process should give us an idea about how appropriately the CEO is paid.

View our latest analysis for Jones Lang LaSalle

How Does Christian Ulbrich's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

Our data indicates that Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated is worth US$7.0b, and total annual CEO compensation is US$9.5m. (This figure is for the year to December 2018). While we always look at total compensation first, we note that the salary component is less, at US$970k. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations from US$4.0b to US$12b, and the median CEO total compensation was US$6.8m.

Thus we can conclude that Christian Ulbrich receives more in total compensation than the median of a group of companies in the same market, and of similar size to Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. However, this doesn't necessarily mean the pay is too high. A closer look at the performance of the underlying business will give us a better idea about whether the pay is particularly generous.

You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Jones Lang LaSalle has changed over time.

Is Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated Growing?

On average over the last three years, Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated has grown earnings per share (EPS) by 9.3% each year (using a line of best fit). It achieved revenue growth of 9.5% over the last year.

I would argue that the improvement in revenue isn't particularly impressive, but it is good to see modest EPS growth. So there are some positives here, but not enough to earn high praise.

Has Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated Been A Good Investment?

With a total shareholder return of 18% over three years, Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated shareholders would, in general, be reasonably content. But they would probably prefer not to see CEO compensation far in excess of the median.

In Summary...

We compared the total CEO remuneration paid by Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated, and compared it to remuneration at a group of similar sized companies. As discussed above, we discovered that the company pays more than the median of that group.

Over the last three years returns to investors have been uninspiring, and we would have liked to see stronger business growth. So it's certainly hard to argue that the CEO is modestly paid, although we don't see the remuneration as an issue. CEO compensation is one thing, but it is also interesting to check if the CEO is buying or selling Jones Lang LaSalle (free visualization of insider trades).

Important note: Jones Lang LaSalle may not be the best stock to buy. You might find something better in this list of interesting companies with high ROE 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.