Does Universal Health Services, Inc.'s (NYSE:UHS) CEO Salary Compare Well With Others?
Alan Miller became the CEO of Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS) in 1978. This report will, first, examine the CEO compensation levels in comparison to CEO compensation at other big companies. Next, we'll consider growth that the business demonstrates. And finally we will reflect on how common stockholders have fared in the last few years, as a secondary measure of performance. This process should give us an idea about how appropriately the CEO is paid.
Check out our latest analysis for Universal Health Services
How Does Alan Miller's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
Our data indicates that Universal Health Services, Inc. is worth US$13b, and total annual CEO compensation is US$24m. (This figure is for the year to December 2018). While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth noting the salary is lower, valued at US$1.7m. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations over US$8.0b and the median CEO total compensation was US$11m. There aren't very many mega-cap companies, so we had to take a wide range to get a meaningful comparison figure.
Thus we can conclude that Alan Miller receives more in total compensation than the median of a group of large companies in the same market as Universal Health Services, Inc.. However, this doesn't necessarily mean the pay is too high. We can get a better idea of how generous the pay is by looking at the performance of the underlying business.
You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Universal Health Services has changed over time.
Is Universal Health Services, Inc. Growing?
Over the last three years Universal Health Services, Inc. has grown its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 8.0% per year (using a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue is up 4.8%.
I'm not particularly impressed by the revenue growth, but I'm happy with the modest EPS growth. So there are some positives here, but not enough to earn high praise. It could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.
Has Universal Health Services, Inc. Been A Good Investment?
With a total shareholder return of 17% over three years, Universal Health Services, Inc. shareholders would, in general, be reasonably content. But they probably don't want to see the CEO paid more than is normal for companies around the same size.
In Summary...
We compared the total CEO remuneration paid by Universal Health Services, 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.
Over the last three years returns to investors have been uninspiring, and we would have liked to see stronger business growth. So it's certainly hard to argue that the CEO is modestly paid, although we don't see the remuneration as an issue. If you think CEO compensation levels are interesting you will probably really like this free visualization of insider trading at Universal Health Services.
If you want to buy a stock that is better than Universal Health Services, this free list of high return, low debt companies is a great place to look.
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.
