Is EZCORP, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:EZPW) CEO Pay Justified?
Stuart Grimshaw has been the CEO of EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) since 2015. This report will, first, examine the CEO compensation levels in comparison to CEO compensation at companies of similar size. 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.
View our latest analysis for EZCORP
How Does Stuart Grimshaw’s Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
Our data indicates that EZCORP, Inc. is worth US$455m, and total annual CEO compensation is US$7.5m. (This number is for the twelve months until 2018). That’s a notable increase of 28% on last year. While we always look at total compensation first, we note that the salary component is less, at US$1.0m. When we examined a selection of companies with market caps ranging from US$200m to US$800m, we found the median CEO compensation was US$1.6m.
It would therefore appear that EZCORP, Inc. pays Stuart Grimshaw more than the median CEO remuneration at companies of a similar size, in the same market. However, this fact alone doesn’t mean the remuneration is too high. We can better assess whether the pay is overly generous by looking into the underlying business performance.
You can see, below, how CEO compensation at EZCORP has changed over time.
Is EZCORP, Inc. Growing?
Over the last three years EZCORP, Inc. has grown its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 120% per year. In the last year, its revenue is up 8.8%.
Overall this is a positive result for shareholders, showing that the company has improved in recent years. It’s nice to see a little revenue growth, as this is consistent with healthy business conditions.
Shareholders might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts. .
Has EZCORP, Inc. Been A Good Investment?
Most shareholders would probably be pleased with EZCORP, Inc. 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…
We compared total CEO remuneration at EZCORP, Inc. with the amount paid at companies with a similar market capitalization. We found that it pays well over the median amount paid in the benchmark group.
Importantly, though, the company has impressed with its earnings per share growth, over three years. Even better, returns to shareholders have been plentiful, over the same time period. Considering this fine result for shareholders, we daresay the CEO compensation might be apt. If you think CEO compensation levels are interesting you will probably really like this free visualization of insider trading at EZCORP.
Or you might prefer examine intently this intuitive graph showing past earnings 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.
