Shareholders May Be A Bit More Conservative With The New York Times Company's (NYSE:NYT) CEO Compensation For Now

Key Insights

• New York Times to hold its Annual General Meeting on 24th of April
• CEO Meredith Kopit Levien's total compensation includes salary of US$946.0k
• Total compensation is similar to the industry average
• Over the past three years, New York Times' EPS grew by 33% and over the past three years, the total loss to shareholders 11%

As many shareholders of The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) will be aware, they have not made a gain on their investment in the past three years. Despite positive EPS growth in the past few years, the share price hasn't tracked the fundamental performance of the company. Shareholders may want to question the board on the future direction of the company at the upcoming AGM on 24th of April. They could also try to influence management and firm direction through voting on resolutions such as executive remuneration and other company matters. We think shareholders might be reluctant to increase compensation for the CEO at the moment, according to our analysis below.

See our latest analysis for New York Times

Comparing The New York Times Company's CEO Compensation With The Industry

According to our data, The New York Times Company has a market capitalization of US$6.9b, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth US$10m over the year to December 2023. That's a notable increase of 36% on last year. While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth acknowledging that the salary portion is lower, valued at US$946k.

On examining similar-sized companies in the American Media industry with market capitalizations between US$4.0b and US$12b, we discovered that the median CEO total compensation of that group was US$14m. So it looks like New York Times compensates Meredith Kopit Levien in line with the median for the industry. What's more, Meredith Kopit Levien holds US$3.5m worth of shares in the company in their own name, indicating that they have a lot of skin in the game.

Component	2023	2022	Proportion (2023)
Salary	US$946k	US$938k	9%
Other	US$9.3m	US$6.6m	91%
Total Compensation	US$10m	US$7.6m	100%

Talking in terms of the industry, salary represented approximately 16% of total compensation out of all the companies we analyzed, while other remuneration made up 84% of the pie. New York Times sets aside a smaller share of compensation for salary, in comparison to the overall industry. If total compensation is slanted towards non-salary benefits, it indicates that CEO pay is linked to company performance.

The New York Times Company's Growth

Over the past three years, The New York Times Company has seen its earnings per share (EPS) grow by 33% per year. Its revenue is up 5.3% over the last year.

Overall this is a positive result for shareholders, showing that the company has improved in recent years. It's nice to see revenue heading northwards, as this is consistent with healthy business conditions. Looking ahead, you might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for the company's future earnings..

Has The New York Times Company Been A Good Investment?

Since shareholders would have lost about 11% over three years, some The New York Times Company investors would surely be feeling negative emotions. So shareholders would probably want the company to be less generous with CEO compensation.

In Summary...

Shareholders have not seen their shares grow in value, rather they have seen their shares decline. The fact that the stock price hasn't grown along with earnings may indicate that other issues may be affecting that stock. If there are some unknown variables that are influencing the stock's price, surely shareholders would have some concerns. These concerns should be addressed at the upcoming AGM, where shareholders can question the board and evaluate if their judgement and decision making is still in line with their expectations.

CEO compensation can have a massive impact on performance, but it's just one element. We did our research and spotted 1 warning sign for New York Times that investors should look into moving forward.

Switching gears from New York Times, if you're hunting for a pristine balance sheet and premium returns, this free list of high return, low debt companies is a great place to look.

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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.