Does Marathon Oil Corporation's (NYSE:MRO) CEO Salary Reflect Performance?

Lee Tillman has been the CEO of Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) since 2013. This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other large companies. Then we'll look at a snap shot of the business growth. And finally - as a second measure of performance - we will look at the returns shareholders have received over the last few years. This process should give us an idea about how appropriately the CEO is paid.

View our latest analysis for Marathon Oil

How Does Lee Tillman's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

At the time of writing our data says that Marathon Oil Corporation has a market cap of US$14b, and is paying total annual CEO compensation of US$10m. (This number is for the twelve months until December 2017). While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth noting the salary is lower, valued at US$1.1m. We took a group of companies with market capitalizations over US$8.0b, and calculated the median CEO total compensation to be US$11m. (We took a wide range because the CEOs of massive companies tend to be paid similar amounts - even though some are quite a bit bigger than others).

That means Lee Tillman receives fairly typical remuneration for the CEO of a large company. This doesn't tell us a whole lot on its own, but looking at the performance of the actual business will give us useful context.

You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Marathon Oil has changed over time.

Is Marathon Oil Corporation Growing?

On average over the last three years, Marathon Oil Corporation has grown earnings per share (EPS) by 73% each year (using a line of best fit). Its revenue is up 34% over last year.

This demonstrates that the company has been improving recently. A good result. It's great to see that revenue growth is strong, too. These metrics suggest the business is growing strongly. Shareholders might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts.

Has Marathon Oil Corporation Been A Good Investment?

With a total shareholder return of 32% over three years, Marathon Oil Corporation shareholders would, in general, 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...

Remuneration for Lee Tillman is close enough to the median pay for a CEO of a large company .

The company is growing EPS but shareholder returns have been sound but not amazing. So upon reflection one could argue that the CEO pay is quite reasonable. CEO compensation is one thing, but it is also interesting to check if the CEO is buying or selling Marathon Oil (free visualization of insider trades).

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this freelist of interesting companies.

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.