What Can We Conclude About Carriage Services' (NYSE:CSV) CEO Pay?
Mel Payne has been the CEO of Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) since 1991, and this article will examine the executive's compensation with respect to the overall performance of the company. This analysis will also look to assess whether the CEO is appropriately paid, considering recent earnings growth and investor returns for Carriage Services.
View our latest analysis for Carriage Services
How Does Total Compensation For Mel Payne Compare With Other Companies In The Industry?
At the time of writing, our data shows that Carriage Services, Inc. has a market capitalization of US$536m, and reported total annual CEO compensation of US$2.0m for the year to December 2019. We note that's a decrease of 14% compared to last year. We think total compensation is more important but our data shows that the CEO salary is lower, at US$777k.
In comparison with other companies in the industry with market capitalizations ranging from US$200m to US$800m, the reported median CEO total compensation was US$2.2m. From this we gather that Mel Payne is paid around the median for CEOs in the industry. Furthermore, Mel Payne directly owns US$39m worth of shares in the company, implying that they are deeply invested in the company's success.
Component | 2019 | 2018 | Proportion (2019) |
Salary | US$777k | US$700k | 38% |
Other | US$1.3m | US$1.7m | 62% |
Total Compensation | US$2.0m | US$2.4m | 100% |
Talking in terms of the industry, salary represented approximately 19% of total compensation out of all the companies we analyzed, while other remuneration made up 81% of the pie. It's interesting to note that Carriage Services 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.
Carriage Services, Inc.'s Growth
Over the last three years, Carriage Services, Inc. has shrunk its earnings per share by 20% per year. In the last year, its revenue is up 15%.
The decrease in EPS could be a concern for some investors. But in contrast the revenue growth is strong, suggesting future potential for EPS growth. In conclusion we can't form a strong opinion about business performance yet; but it's one worth watching. Moving away from current form for a second, it could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.
Has Carriage Services, Inc. Been A Good Investment?
Carriage Services, Inc. has served shareholders reasonably well, with a total return of 24% over three years. But they would probably prefer not to see CEO compensation far in excess of the median.
In Summary...
As previously discussed, Mel is compensated close to the median for companies of its size, and which belong to the same industry. But revenue growth over the last year can't be ignored. That's why we were hoping for more robust shareholder returns at this time. Additionally, shareholders would want to keep their eyes on EPS, since growth has been negative for the metric for the last three years. But we don't think the CEO compensation is a problem, although shareholders might want to see more growth before agreeing that Mel should get a raise.
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 3 warning signs for Carriage Services (of which 1 shouldn't be ignored!) that you should know about in order to have a holistic understanding of the stock.
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a different set of stocks. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.
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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