What Did Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation's (NASDAQ:GLDD) CEO Take Home Last Year?

Lasse Petterson became the CEO of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD) in 2017. This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other companies that have similar market capitalization. Then we'll look at a snap shot of the business growth. Third, we'll reflect on the total return to shareholders over three years, as a second measure of business performance. This method should give us information to assess how appropriately the company pays the CEO.

Check out our latest analysis for Great Lakes Dredge & Dock

How Does Lasse Petterson's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

At the time of writing, our data says that Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation has a market cap of US$498m, and reported total annual CEO compensation of US$3.8m for the year to December 2019. That's a notable increase of 17% on last year. While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth noting the salary is lower, valued at US$700k. We further remind readers that the CEO may face performance requirements to receive the non-salary part of the total compensation. We examined companies with market caps from US$200m to US$800m, and discovered that the median CEO total compensation of that group was US$2.2m.

Pay mix tells us a lot about how a company functions versus the wider industry, and it's no different in the case of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock. Talking in terms of the sector, salary represented approximately 22% of total compensation out of all the companies we analysed, while other remuneration made up 78% of the pie. So it seems like there isn't a significant difference between Great Lakes Dredge & Dock and the broader market, in terms of salary allocation in the overall compensation package.

As you can see, Lasse Petterson is paid more than the median CEO pay at companies of a similar size, in the same market. However, this does not necessarily mean Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation 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. The graphic below shows how CEO compensation at Great Lakes Dredge & Dock has changed from year to year.

Is Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation Growing?

On average over the last three years, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation has seen earnings per share (EPS) move in a favourable direction by 108% each year (using a line of best fit). Its revenue is up 15% over last year.

This shows that the company has improved itself over the last few years. Good news for shareholders. It's a real positive to see this sort of growth in a single year. That suggests a healthy and growing business. Shareholders might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts.

Has Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation Been A Good Investment?

Boasting a total shareholder return of 68% over three years, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation has done well by shareholders. As a result, some may believe the CEO should be paid more than is normal for companies of similar size.

In Summary...

We compared the total CEO remuneration paid by Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation, and compared it to remuneration at a group of similar sized companies. Our data suggests that it pays above the median CEO pay within that group.

Importantly, though, the company has impressed with its earnings per share growth, over three years. On top of that, in the same period, returns to shareholders have been great. So, considering this good performance, the CEO compensation may be quite appropriate. Shifting gears from CEO pay for a second, we've spotted 4 warning signs for Great Lakes Dredge & Dock you should be aware of, and 1 of them is a bit concerning.

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

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.

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. Thank you for reading.