Should You Worry About Equinor ASA's (OB:EQNR) CEO Pay?

Eldar Sætre became the CEO of Equinor ASA (OB:EQNR) in 2014. This report will, first, examine the CEO compensation levels in comparison to CEO compensation at other big companies. Then we'll look at a snap shot of the business growth. And finally we will reflect on how common stockholders have fared in the last few years, as a secondary measure of performance. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels.

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How Does Eldar Sætre's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

Our data indicates that Equinor ASA is worth øre638b, and total annual CEO compensation is US$1.8m. (This is based on the year to 2017). We think total compensation is more important but we note that the CEO salary is lower, at US$1.0m. When we examined a group of companies with market caps over US$8.0b, we found that their median CEO compensation was US$1.7m. (We took a wide range because the CEOs of massive companies tend to be paid similar amounts - even though some are quite a bit bigger than others).

That means Eldar Sætre receives fairly typical remuneration for the CEO of a large company. While this data point isn't particularly informative alone, it gains more meaning when considered with business performance. So this freereport on the analyst consensus forecasts could help you make a master move on this stock.

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

Is Equinor ASA Growing?

Equinor ASA has increased its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 113% a year, over the last three years (using a line of best fit). It achieved revenue growth of 31% over the last year.

Overall this is a positive result for shareholders, showing that the company has improved in recent years. It's great to see that revenue growth is strong, too. These metrics suggest the business is growing strongly.

Has Equinor ASA Been A Good Investment?

Most shareholders would probably be pleased with Equinor ASA for providing a total return of 122% 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...

Remuneration for Eldar Sætre is close enough to the median pay for a CEO of a large company .

Few would be critical of the leadership, since returns have been juicy and earnings per share are moving in the right direction. So one could argue the CEO compensation is quite modest, if you consider company performance! CEO compensation is one thing, but it is also interesting to check if the CEO is buying or selling Equinor (free visualization of insider trades).

Important note: Equinor 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.

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.