Increases to First Financial Corporation's (NASDAQ:THFF) CEO Compensation Might Cool off for now

Under the guidance of CEO Norm Lowery, First Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:THFF) has performed reasonably well recently. As shareholders go into the upcoming AGM on 21 April 2021, CEO compensation will probably not be their focus, but rather the steps management will take to continue the growth momentum. However, some shareholders may still be hesitant of being overly generous with CEO compensation.

Check out our latest analysis for First Financial

Comparing First Financial Corporation's CEO Compensation With the industry

According to our data, First Financial Corporation has a market capitalization of US$602m, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth US$2.5m over the year to December 2020. We note that's a decrease of 16% compared to last year. While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth acknowledging that the salary portion is lower, valued at US$697k.

On comparing similar companies from the same industry with market caps ranging from US$400m to US$1.6b, we found that the median CEO total compensation was US$1.5m. Accordingly, our analysis reveals that First Financial Corporation pays Norm Lowery north of the industry median. Furthermore, Norm Lowery directly owns US$4.5m worth of shares in the company, implying that they are deeply invested in the company's success.

Component	2020	2019	Proportion (2020)
Salary	US$697k	US$687k	28%
Other	US$1.8m	US$2.3m	72%
Total Compensation	US$2.5m	US$3.0m	100%

Talking in terms of the industry, salary represented approximately 42% of total compensation out of all the companies we analyzed, while other remuneration made up 58% of the pie. First Financial 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.

First Financial Corporation's Growth

Over the past three years, First Financial Corporation has seen its earnings per share (EPS) grow by 18% per year. It achieved revenue growth of 7.7% over the last year.

Shareholders would be glad to know that the company has improved itself over the last few years. It's also good to see modest revenue growth, suggesting the underlying business is healthy. Looking ahead, you might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for the company's future earnings..

Has First Financial Corporation Been A Good Investment?

With a total shareholder return of 12% over three years, First Financial Corporation 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...

The company's decent performance might have made most shareholders happy, possibly making CEO remuneration the least of the concerns to be discussed in the upcoming AGM. Still, not all shareholders might be in favor of a pay raise to the CEO, seeing that they are already being paid higher than the industry.

While CEO pay is an important factor to be aware of, there are other areas that investors should be mindful of as well. That's why we did some digging and identified 1 warning sign for First Financial that investors should think about before committing capital to this stock.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a different set of stocks. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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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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