Is Crown Castle International Corp. (REIT)’s (NYSE:CCI) CEO Paid At A Competitive Rate?
Jay Brown became the CEO of Crown Castle International Corp. (REIT) (NYSE:CCI) in 2016. This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with 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 process should give us an idea about how appropriately the CEO is paid.
See our latest analysis for Crown Castle International (REIT)
How Does Jay Brown’s Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
At the time of writing our data says that Crown Castle International Corp. (REIT) has a market cap of US$50b, and is paying total annual CEO compensation of US$9.3m. (This number is for the twelve months until December 2017). While we always look at total compensation first, we note that the salary component is less, at US$806k. We took a group of companies with market capitalizations over US$8.0b, and calculated the median CEO compensation to be US$11m. Once you start looking at very large companies, you need to take a broader range, because there simply aren’t that many of them.
That means Jay Brown receives fairly typical remuneration for the CEO of a large company. Although this fact alone doesn’t tell us a great deal, it becomes more relevant when considered against the business performance.
You can see a visual representation of the CEO compensation at Crown Castle International (REIT), below.
Is Crown Castle International Corp. (REIT) Growing?
On average over the last three years, Crown Castle International Corp. (REIT) has shrunk earnings per share by 3.2% each year (measured with a line of best fit). It achieved revenue growth of 25% over the last year.
Sadly for shareholders, earnings per share are actually down, over three years. While the revenue growth is good to see, it is outweighed by the fact that earnings per share are down, over three years. It’s hard to argue the company is firing on all cylinders, so shareholders might be averse to high CEO remuneration. Shareholders might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts.
Has Crown Castle International Corp. (REIT) Been A Good Investment?
Most shareholders would probably be pleased with Crown Castle International Corp. (REIT) for providing a total return of 56% over three years. As a result, some may believe the CEO should be paid more than is normal for companies of similar size.
In Summary…
Jay Brown is paid around the same as most CEOs of large companies.
The company isn’t growing earnings per share, but shareholder returns have been strong over the last three years. So we think most shareholders wouldn’t be too worried about CEO compensation, which is close to the median for large companies. CEO compensation is one thing, but it is also interesting to check if the CEO is buying or selling Crown Castle International (REIT) (free visualization of insider trades).
Arguably, business quality is much more important than CEO compensation levels. So check out this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.