Does Dillard's, Inc.'s (NYSE:DDS) CEO Pay Compare Well With Peers?

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

William Dillard has been the CEO of Dillard's, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) since 1998. This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other companies that have similar market capitalization. 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 method should give us information to assess how appropriately the company pays the CEO.

See our latest analysis for Dillard's

How Does William Dillard's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

At the time of writing our data says that Dillard's, Inc. has a market cap of US$1.7b, and is paying total annual CEO compensation of US$4.8m. (This is based on the year to 2018). While we always look at total compensation first, we note that the salary component is less, at US$1.0m. As part of our analysis we looked at companies in the same jurisdiction, with market capitalizations of US$1.0b to US$3.2b. The median total CEO compensation was US$3.4m.

As you can see, William Dillard is paid more than the median CEO pay at companies of a similar size, in the same market. However, this does not necessarily mean Dillard's, Inc. is paying too much. We can get a better idea of how generous the pay is by looking at the performance of the underlying business.

The graphic below shows how CEO compensation at Dillard's has changed from year to year.

Is Dillard's, Inc. Growing?

Dillard's, Inc. has increased its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 7.9% a year, over the last three years (using a line of best fit). Its revenue is up 4.0% over last year.

I'm not particularly impressed by the revenue growth, but the modest improvement in EPS is good. Considering these factors I'd say performance has been pretty decent, though not amazing. It could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.

Has Dillard's, Inc. Been A Good Investment?

Since shareholders would have lost about 2.6% over three years, some Dillard's, Inc. shareholders would surely be feeling negative emotions. So shareholders would probably think the company shouldn't be too generous with CEO compensation.

In Summary...

We compared total CEO remuneration at Dillard's, Inc. with the amount paid at companies with a similar market capitalization. We found that it pays well over the median amount paid in the benchmark group.

Over the last three years, shareholder returns have been downright disappointing, and the underlying business has failed to impress us. Shareholders may wish to consider further research. Although we don't think the CEO pay is too high, it is probably more on the generous side of things. CEO compensation is one thing, but it is also interesting to check if the CEO is buying or selling Dillard's (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.

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.