Howard Lance has been the CEO of Maxar Technologies Ltd. (NYSE:MAXR) since 2016. This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other companies that have similar market capitalization. After that, we will consider the growth in the business. 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.
See our latest analysis for Maxar Technologies
How Does Howard Lance's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
At the time of writing our data says that Maxar Technologies Ltd. has a market cap of US$693m, and is paying total annual CEO compensation of US$8.7m. (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$849k. We examined companies with market caps from US$400m to US$1.6b, and discovered that the median CEO compensation of that group was US$2.3m.
Thus we can conclude that Howard Lance receives more in total compensation than the median of a group of companies in the same market, and of similar size to Maxar Technologies Ltd.. However, this doesn't necessarily mean the pay is too high. We can better assess whether the pay is overly generous by looking into the underlying business performance. So this freereport on the analyst consensus forecasts could help you make a master move on this stock.
You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Maxar Technologies has changed over time.
Is Maxar Technologies Ltd. Growing?
Maxar Technologies Ltd. has reduced its earnings per share by an average of 49% a year, over the last three years. In the last year, its revenue is up 57%.
As investors, we are a bit wary of companies that have lower earnings per share, over three years. But on the other hand, revenue growth is strong, suggesting a brighter future. In conclusion we can't form a strong opinion about business performance yet; but it's one worth watching.
Has Maxar Technologies Ltd. Been A Good Investment?
With a three year total loss of 89%, Maxar Technologies Ltd. would certainly have some dissatisfied shareholders. This suggests it would be unwise for the company to pay the CEO too generously.
In Summary...
We examined the amount Maxar Technologies Ltd. pays its CEO, and compared it to the amount paid by similar sized companies. As discussed above, we discovered that the company pays more than the median of that group.
While we have not been overly impressed by the business performance, the shareholder returns, over three years, have been disappointing. Although we'd stop short of calling it inappropriate, we think the CEO compensation is probably more on the generous side of things. CEO compensation is one thing, but it is also interesting to check if the CEO is buying or selling Maxar Technologies (free visualization of insider trades).
Arguably, business quality is much more important than CEO compensation levels. So check out this freelist of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity 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.