How Should Investors Feel About Atlantic Power Corporation's (TSE:ATP) CEO Pay?

Jim Moore became the CEO of Atlantic Power Corporation (TSE:ATP) in 2015. First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at similar sized companies. Next, we'll consider growth that the business demonstrates. And finally we will reflect on how common stockholders have fared in the last few years, as a secondary measure of performance. This method should give us information to assess how appropriately the company pays the CEO.

See our latest analysis for Atlantic Power

How Does Jim Moore's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

Our data indicates that Atlantic Power Corporation is worth CA$311m, and total annual CEO compensation is US$2m. That's a notable increase of 15% on last year. As part of our analysis we looked at companies in the same jurisdiction, with market capitalizations of US$100m to US$400m. The median total CEO compensation was US$647k.

It would therefore appear that Atlantic Power Corporation pays Jim Moore more than the median CEO remuneration at companies of a similar size, in the same market. However, this fact alone doesn't mean the remuneration is too high. We can get a better idea of how generous the pay is by looking at the performance of the underlying business.

You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Atlantic Power has changed over time.

Is Atlantic Power Corporation Growing?

Over the last three years Atlantic Power Corporation has grown its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 13% per year. Its revenue is down -27% over last year.

This demonstrates that the company has been improving recently. A good result. While it would be good to see revenue growth, profits matter more in the end. So this freevisualization of the analyst consensus on future earnings could help you make the right decision about whether to buy, sell, or hold.

Has Atlantic Power Corporation Been A Good Investment?

With a three year total loss of 1.3%, Atlantic Power Corporation would certainly have some dissatisfied shareholders. So shareholders would probably think the company shouldn't be too generous with CEO compensation.

In Summary...

We compared the total CEO remuneration paid by Atlantic Power Corporation, and compared it to remuneration at a group of similar sized companies. We found that it pays well over the median amount paid in the benchmark 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. This doesn't look great when you consider CEO remuneration is up on last year. 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. Even if a company pays the CEO quite generously, that doesn't mean it's a bad investment. Nonetheless, it might be wise to check if insiders have been selling.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this freelist of interesting companies.

To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.

The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.

Simply Wall St analyst Simply Wall St and Simply Wall St have no position in any of the companies mentioned. This article is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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.