Does Cisco Systems Inc's (NASDAQ:CSCO) CEO Pay Compare Well With Peers?

Chuck Robbins has been the CEO of Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) since 2015. First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at other large companies. 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 method should give us information to assess how appropriately the company pays the CEO.

Check out our latest analysis for Cisco Systems

How Does Chuck Robbins's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

According to our data, Cisco Systems Inc has a market capitalization of US$220.0b, and pays its CEO total annual compensation worth US$17m. That's just a smallish increase of 4.5% on last year. When we examined a group of companies with market caps over US$8.0b, we found that their median CEO compensation was US$11m.

It would therefore appear that Cisco Systems Inc pays Chuck Robbins more than the median CEO remuneration at large companies, in the same market. However, this fact alone doesn't mean the remuneration is too high. A closer look at the performance of the underlying business will give us a better idea about whether the pay is particularly generous.

Is Cisco Systems Inc Growing?

Cisco Systems Inc has reduced its earnings per share by an average of 44% a year, over the last three years. Its revenue is up 2.7% over last year.

Few shareholders would be pleased to read that earnings per share are lower over three years. The modest increase in revenue in the last year isn't enough to make me overlook the disappointing change in earnings per share. These factors suggest that the business performance wouldn't really justify a high pay packet for the CEO.

Shareholders might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts. .

Has Cisco Systems Inc Been A Good Investment?

I think that the total shareholder return of 93%, over three years, would leave most Cisco Systems Inc shareholders smiling. This strong performance might mean some shareholders don't mind if the CEO is paid more than is normal for a company of its size.

In Summary...

We the total CEO remuneration paid by Cisco Systems Inc, and compared it to remuneration at a group of other large companies. We found that it pays well over the median amount paid in the benchmark group.

But clearly there are some positives, because investors have done well over the same time frame. Considering this, shareholders are probably not too worried about the CEO compensation. So you may want to check if insiders are buying Cisco Systems Inc shares with their own money (free access).

Or you could feast your eyes on this interactive graph depicting past earnings, cash flow and revenue.

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.