How Should Investors React To MediaValet Inc.'s (CVE:MVP) CEO Pay?

Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card!

David MacLaren became the CEO of MediaValet Inc. (CVE:MVP) in 2001. This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other companies that have similar market capitalization. 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 MediaValet

How Does David MacLaren's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

At the time of writing our data says that MediaValet Inc. has a market cap of CA$8.1m, and is paying total annual CEO compensation of CA$200k. (This number is for the twelve months until December 2018). That's less than last year. It is worth noting that the CEO compensation consists almost entirely of the salary, worth CA$200k. We took a group of companies with market capitalizations below CA$264m, and calculated the median CEO total compensation to be CA$152k.

As you can see, David MacLaren is paid more than the median CEO pay at companies of a similar size, in the same market. However, this does not necessarily mean MediaValet Inc. is paying too much. We can get a better idea of how generous the pay is by looking at the performance of the underlying business.

You can see a visual representation of the CEO compensation at MediaValet, below.

Is MediaValet Inc. Growing?

On average over the last three years, MediaValet Inc. has grown earnings per share (EPS) by 34% each year (using a line of best fit). Its revenue is up 41% over last year.

This demonstrates that the company has been improving recently. A good result. The combination of strong revenue growth with medium-term earnings per share improvement certainly points to the kind of growth I like to see. We don't have analyst forecasts, but you could get a better understanding of its growth by checking out this more detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Has MediaValet Inc. Been A Good Investment?

Given the total loss of 73% over three years, many shareholders in MediaValet Inc. are probably rather dissatisfied, to say the least. It therefore might be upsetting for shareholders if the CEO were paid generously.

In Summary...

We examined the amount MediaValet Inc. pays its CEO, and compared it to the amount paid by similar sized companies. As discussed above, we discovered that the company pays more than the median of that group.

However we must not forget that the EPS growth has been very strong over three years. On the other hand returns to investors over the same period have probably disappointed many. One might thus conclude that it would be better if the company waited until growth is reflected in the share price, before increasing CEO compensation. CEO compensation is one thing, but it is also interesting to check if the CEO is buying or selling MediaValet (free visualization of insider trades).

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

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.