How Much Did Seaboard Corporation's (NYSEMKT:SEB) CEO Pocket Last Year?

Steven Bresky became the CEO of Seaboard Corporation (NYSEMKT:SEB) in 2006. 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 process should give us an idea about how appropriately the CEO is paid.

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How Does Steven Bresky's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

Our data indicates that Seaboard Corporation is worth US$4.3b, and total annual CEO compensation is US$4.8m. (This figure is for the year to 2016). While we always look at total compensation first, we note that the salary component is less, at US$942k. When we examined a selection of companies with market caps ranging from US$2.0b to US$6.4b, we found the median CEO compensation was US$5.1m.

So Steven Bresky is paid around the average of the companies we looked at. Although this fact alone doesn't tell us a great deal, it becomes more relevant when considered against the business performance. Take a look at Seaboard's key growth metrics by clicking on this link to view earnings, revenue and cash flow.

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

Is Seaboard Corporation Growing?

Over the last three years Seaboard Corporation has shrunk its earnings per share by an average of 5.7% per year. Its revenue is up 16% over last year.

Sadly for shareholders, earnings per share are actually down, over three years. While the revenue growth is good to see, it is outweighed by the fact that earnings per share are down, over three years. So given this relatively weak performance, shareholders would probably not want to see high compensation for the CEO.

Has Seaboard Corporation Been A Good Investment?

Most shareholders would probably be pleased with Seaboard Corporation for providing a total return of 42% over three years. As a result, some may believe the CEO should be paid more than is normal for companies of similar size.

In Summary...

Remuneration for Steven Bresky is close enough to the median pay for a CEO of a similar sized company .

We're not seeing great strides in earnings per share, but the company has clearly pleased some investors, given the returns over the last three years. So we doubt many are complaining about the fairly normal CEO pay. So you may want to check if insiders are buying Seaboard shares with their own money (free access).

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.