How Should Investors React To Hologic, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:HOLX) CEO Pay?
Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card!
In 2013 Steve MacMillan was appointed CEO of Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX). This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other large companies. Then we'll look at a snap shot of the business growth. 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 Hologic
How Does Steve MacMillan's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
At the time of writing our data says that Hologic, Inc. has a market cap of US$13b, and is paying total annual CEO compensation of US$42m. (This number is for the twelve months until September 2018). While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth noting the salary is lower, valued at US$1.0m. We took a group of companies with market capitalizations over US$8.0b, and calculated the median CEO total compensation to be 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 Steve MacMillan receives more in total compensation than the median of a group of large companies in the same market as Hologic, Inc.. However, this doesn't necessarily mean the pay is too high. A closer look at the performance of the underlying business will give us a better idea about whether the pay is particularly generous.
The graphic below shows how CEO compensation at Hologic has changed from year to year.
Is Hologic, Inc. Growing?
Hologic, Inc. has reduced its earnings per share by an average of 50% a year, over the last three years (measured with a line of best fit). Its revenue is up 3.1% over last year.
Few shareholders would be pleased to read that earnings per share are lower over three years. The modest increase in revenue in the last year isn't enough to make me overlook the disappointing change in earnings per share. These factors suggest that the business performance wouldn't really justify a high pay packet for the CEO. It could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.
Has Hologic, Inc. Been A Good Investment?
Hologic, Inc. has served shareholders reasonably well, with a total return of 30% 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...
We compared total CEO remuneration at Hologic, Inc. with the amount paid at other large companies. We found that it pays well over the median amount paid in the benchmark group.
We think many shareholders would be underwhelmed with the business growth over the last three years.
While shareholder returns are acceptable, they don't delight. So you may want to delve deeper, because we don't think the CEO pay is too low. Whatever your view on compensation, you might want to check if insiders are buying or selling Hologic shares (free trial).
Important note: Hologic 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.
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.
