Here's Why Shareholders May Consider Paying Exponent, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:EXPO) CEO A Little More

Key Insights

• Exponent's Annual General Meeting to take place on 6th of June
• CEO Catherine Corrigan's total compensation includes salary of US$887.5k
• Total compensation is 56% below industry average
• Exponent's EPS grew by 6.3% over the past three years while total shareholder return over the past three years was 9.6%

Shareholders will probably not be disappointed by the robust results at Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) recently and they will be keeping this in mind as they go into the AGM on 6th of June. This would also be a chance for them to hear the board review the financial results, discuss future company strategy to further improve the business and vote on any resolutions such as executive remuneration. We have prepared some analysis below and we show why we think CEO compensation looks decent with even the possibility for a raise.

View our latest analysis for Exponent

Comparing Exponent, Inc.'s CEO Compensation With The Industry

At the time of writing, our data shows that Exponent, Inc. has a market capitalization of US$4.8b, and reported total annual CEO compensation of US$3.6m for the year to December 2023. That's mostly flat as compared to the prior year's compensation. While we always look at total compensation first, our analysis shows that the salary component is less, at US$888k.

On examining similar-sized companies in the American Professional Services industry with market capitalizations between US$2.0b and US$6.4b, we discovered that the median CEO total compensation of that group was US$8.0m. Accordingly, Exponent pays its CEO under the industry median. Furthermore, Catherine Corrigan directly owns US$7.5m worth of shares in the company, implying that they are deeply invested in the company's success.

Component	2023	2022	Proportion (2023)
Salary	US$888k	US$831k	25%
Other	US$2.7m	US$2.8m	75%
Total Compensation	US$3.6m	US$3.6m	100%

Speaking on an industry level, nearly 13% of total compensation represents salary, while the remainder of 87% is other remuneration. According to our research, Exponent has allocated a higher percentage of pay to salary in comparison to the wider industry. It's important to note that a slant towards non-salary compensation suggests that total pay is tied to the company's performance.

A Look at Exponent, Inc.'s Growth Numbers

Exponent, Inc. has seen its earnings per share (EPS) increase by 6.3% a year over the past three years. Its revenue is up 6.6% over the last year.

We'd prefer higher revenue growth, but we're happy with the modest EPS growth. It's clear the performance has been quite decent, but it it falls short of outstanding,based on this information. Moving away from current form for a second, it could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.

Has Exponent, Inc. Been A Good Investment?

Exponent, Inc. has not done too badly by shareholders, with a total return of 9.6%, over three years. It would be nice to see that metric improve in the future. In light of that, investors might probably want to see an improvement on their returns before they feel generous about increasing the CEO remuneration.

To Conclude...

The company's overall performance, while not bad, could be better. If it continues on the same road, shareholders might feel even more confident about their investment, and have little to no objections concerning CEO pay. Instead, investors might be more interested in discussions that would help manage their longer-term growth expectations such as company business strategies and future growth potential.

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 Exponent that you should be aware of before investing.

Arguably, business quality is much more important than CEO compensation levels. So check out this free list of interesting companies that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

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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.