Air Lease Corporation's (NYSE:AL) CEO Compensation Is Looking A Bit Stretched At The Moment

Key Insights

• Air Lease's Annual General Meeting to take place on 3rd of May
• CEO John Plueger's total compensation includes salary of US$1.00m
• The overall pay is 45% above the industry average
• Over the past three years, Air Lease's EPS grew by 5.3% and over the past three years, the total shareholder return was 17%

CEO John Plueger has done a decent job of delivering relatively good performance at Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL) recently. This is something shareholders will keep in mind as they cast their votes on company resolutions such as executive remuneration in the upcoming AGM on 3rd of May. However, some shareholders may still want to keep CEO compensation within reason.

Check out our latest analysis for Air Lease

How Does Total Compensation For John Plueger Compare With Other Companies In The Industry?

According to our data, Air Lease Corporation has a market capitalization of US$5.8b, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth US$9.1m over the year to December 2023. That's just a smallish increase of 6.2% on last year. We think total compensation is more important but our data shows that the CEO salary is lower, at US$1.0m.

For comparison, other companies in the American Trade Distributors industry with market capitalizations ranging between US$4.0b and US$12b had a median total CEO compensation of US$6.3m. Accordingly, our analysis reveals that Air Lease Corporation pays John Plueger north of the industry median. Moreover, John Plueger also holds US$39m worth of Air Lease stock directly under their own name, which reveals to us that they have a significant personal stake in the company.

Component	2023	2022	Proportion (2023)
Salary	US$1.0m	US$1.0m	11%
Other	US$8.1m	US$7.5m	89%
Total Compensation	US$9.1m	US$8.5m	100%

Speaking on an industry level, nearly 17% of total compensation represents salary, while the remainder of 83% is other remuneration. Air Lease pays a modest slice of remuneration through salary, as compared to the broader industry. If non-salary compensation dominates total pay, it's an indicator that the executive's salary is tied to company performance.

Air Lease Corporation's Growth

Air Lease Corporation's earnings per share (EPS) grew 5.3% per year over the last three years. In the last year, its revenue is up 16%.

We would argue that the modest growth in revenue is a notable positive. And the modest growth in EPS isn't bad, either. So while performance isn't amazing, we think it really does seem quite respectable. Historical performance can sometimes be a good indicator on what's coming up next but if you want to peer into the company's future you might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts.

Has Air Lease Corporation Been A Good Investment?

Air Lease Corporation has generated a total shareholder return of 17% over three years, so most shareholders would be reasonably content. But they probably don't want to see the CEO paid more than is normal for companies around the same size.

In Summary...

Given that the company's overall performance has been reasonable, the CEO remuneration policy might not be shareholders' central point of focus in the upcoming AGM. However, any decision to raise CEO pay might be met with some objections from the shareholders given that the CEO is already paid higher than the industry average.

We can learn a lot about a company by studying its CEO compensation trends, along with looking at other aspects of the business. We identified 3 warning signs for Air Lease (1 shouldn't be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

Switching gears from Air Lease, if you're hunting for a pristine balance sheet and premium returns, this free list of high return, low debt companies is a great place to look.

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This article by Simply Wall St 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. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.