Does Dawson Geophysical Company's (NASDAQ:DWSN) CEO Pay Reflect Performance?

Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card!

Stephen Jumper has been the CEO of Dawson Geophysical Company (NASDAQ:DWSN) since 2015. This report will, first, examine the CEO compensation levels in comparison to CEO compensation at companies of similar size. Next, we'll consider growth that the business demonstrates. Third, we'll reflect on the total return to shareholders over three years, as a second measure of business performance. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels.

View our latest analysis for Dawson Geophysical

How Does Stephen Jumper's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

Our data indicates that Dawson Geophysical Company is worth US$57m, and total annual CEO compensation is US$876k. (This number is for the twelve months until December 2018). While we always look at total compensation first, we note that the salary component is less, at US$577k. We took a group of companies with market capitalizations below US$200m, and calculated the median CEO total compensation to be US$468k.

Thus we can conclude that Stephen Jumper receives more in total compensation than the median of a group of companies in the same market, and of similar size to Dawson Geophysical Company. However, this doesn't necessarily mean the pay is too high. A closer look at the performance of the underlying business will give us a better idea about whether the pay is particularly generous.

You can see a visual representation of the CEO compensation at Dawson Geophysical, below.

Is Dawson Geophysical Company Growing?

Dawson Geophysical Company has increased its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 19% a year, over the last three years (using a line of best fit). It saw its revenue drop -5.2% over the last year.

Overall this is a positive result for shareholders, showing that the company has improved in recent years. While it would be good to see revenue growth, profits matter more in the end.

Has Dawson Geophysical Company Been A Good Investment?

Since shareholders would have lost about 68% over three years, some Dawson Geophysical Company shareholders would surely be feeling negative emotions. This suggests it would be unwise for the company to pay the CEO too generously.

In Summary...

We examined the amount Dawson Geophysical Company pays its CEO, and compared it to the amount paid by similar sized companies. Our data suggests that it pays above the median CEO pay within that group.

However, the earnings per share growth over three years is certainly impressive. However, the returns to investors are far less impressive, over the same period. Considering the per share profit growth, but keeping in mind the weak returns, we'd need more time to form a view on CEO compensation. So you may want to check if insiders are buying Dawson Geophysical shares with their own money (free access).

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.

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.

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. Thank you for reading.