Does The St. Joe Company's (NYSE:JOE) CEO Salary Compare Well With Others?
Jorge Gonzalez has been the CEO of The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE) since 2015. 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. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels.
View our latest analysis for St. Joe
How Does Jorge Gonzalez's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
According to our data, The St. Joe Company has a market capitalization of US$1.3b, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth US$906k over the year to December 2018. While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth noting the salary is lower, valued at US$400k. We examined companies with market caps from US$1.0b to US$3.2b, and discovered that the median CEO total compensation of that group was US$3.8m.
Most shareholders would consider it a positive that Jorge Gonzalez takes less total compensation than the CEOs of most similar size companies, leaving more for shareholders. While this is a good thing, you'll need to understand the business better before you can form an opinion.
You can see, below, how CEO compensation at St. Joe has changed over time.
Is The St. Joe Company Growing?
On average over the last three years, The St. Joe Company has grown earnings per share (EPS) by 23% each year (using a line of best fit). Its revenue is down 13% over last year.
This demonstrates that the company has been improving recently. A good result. Revenue growth is a real positive for growth, but ultimately profits are more important. Although we don't have analyst forecasts shareholders might want to examine this detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow.
Has The St. Joe Company Been A Good Investment?
The St. Joe Company has served shareholders reasonably well, with a total return of 27% over three years. But they probably wouldn't be so happy as to think the CEO should be paid more than is normal, for companies around this size.
In Summary...
The St. Joe Company is currently paying its CEO below what is normal for companies of its size.
Many would consider this to indicate that the pay is modest since the business is growing. While some might be keen on seeing higher returns, our short analysis has not produced any evidence to suggest Jorge Gonzalez is overcompensated. It's great to see a company that pays its CEO reasonably, even while growing. But for me, it's even better if insiders are also buying shares with their own cold, hard, cash. Whatever your view on compensation, you might want to check if insiders are buying or selling St. Joe shares (free trial).
Important note: St. Joe may not be the best stock to buy. You might find something better in this list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.
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.
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. Thank you for reading.
