Our Take On Synlogic's (NASDAQ:SYBX) CEO Salary

This article will reflect on the compensation paid to Aoife Brennan who has served as CEO of Synlogic, Inc. (NASDAQ:SYBX) since 2018. This analysis will also look to assess whether the CEO is appropriately paid, considering recent earnings growth and investor returns for Synlogic.

See our latest analysis for Synlogic

How Does Total Compensation For Aoife Brennan Compare With Other Companies In The Industry?

According to our data, Synlogic, Inc. has a market capitalization of US$78m, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth US$1.8m over the year to December 2019. Notably, that's a decrease of 15% over the year before. While we always look at total compensation first, our analysis shows that the salary component is less, at US$505k.

In comparison with other companies in the industry with market capitalizations under US$200m, the reported median total CEO compensation was US$942k. This suggests that Aoife Brennan is paid more than the median for the industry. Furthermore, Aoife Brennan directly owns US$269k worth of shares in the company.

Talking in terms of the industry, salary represented approximately 25% of total compensation out of all the companies we analyzed, while other remuneration made up 75% of the pie. It's interesting to note that Synlogic pays out a greater portion of remuneration through salary, compared to the industry. If non-salary compensation dominates total pay, it's an indicator that the executive's salary is tied to company performance.

A Look at Synlogic, Inc.'s Growth Numbers

Synlogic, Inc. has seen its earnings per share (EPS) increase by 65% a year over the past three years. In the last year, its revenue is up 59%.

Overall this is a positive result for shareholders, showing that the company has improved in recent years. Most shareholders would be pleased to see strong revenue growth combined with EPS growth. This combo suggests a fast growing business. Historical performance can sometimes be a good indicator on what's coming up next but if you want to peer into the company's future you might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts.

Has Synlogic, Inc. Been A Good Investment?

With a three year total loss of 75% for the shareholders, Synlogic, Inc. would certainly have some dissatisfied shareholders. Therefore, it might be upsetting for shareholders if the CEO were paid generously.

In Summary...

As we noted earlier, Synlogic pays its CEO higher than the norm for similar-sized companies belonging to the same industry. However, we must not forget that the EPS growth has been very strong, but it's disappointing to see negative shareholder returns over the same period. Although we'd stop short of calling it inappropriate, we think Aoife is earning a very handsome sum.

CEO compensation is an important area to keep your eyes on, but we've also need to pay attention to other attributes of the company. That's why we did our research, and identified 6 warning signs for Synlogic (of which 1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) that you should know about in order to have a holistic understanding of the stock.

Switching gears from Synlogic, 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. 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.
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