Here’s What We Think About Golden Entertainment Inc’s (NASDAQ:GDEN) CEO Pay
Blake Sartini became the CEO of Golden Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:GDEN) in 2015. First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at similar sized 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. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels.
View our latest analysis for Golden Entertainment
How Does Blake Sartini’s Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
Our data indicates that Golden Entertainment Inc is worth US$506m, and total annual CEO compensation is US$4.0m. (This figure is for the year to 2017). While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it’s worth noting the salary is lower, valued at US$1.0m. We examined companies with market caps from US$200m to US$800m, and discovered that the median CEO compensation of that group was US$1.6m.
As you can see, Blake Sartini is paid more than the median CEO pay at companies of a similar size, in the same market. However, this does not necessarily mean Golden Entertainment Inc is paying too much. A closer look at the performance of the underlying business will give us a better idea about whether the pay is particularly generous.
You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Golden Entertainment has changed over time.
Is Golden Entertainment Inc Growing?
Golden Entertainment Inc has reduced its earnings per share by an average of 56% a year, over the last three years. Its revenue is up 93% over last year.
Investors should note that, over three years, earnings per share are down. But in contrast the revenue growth is strong, suggesting future potential for earnings growth. It’s hard to reach a conclusion about business performance right now. This may be one to watch.
You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings.
Has Golden Entertainment Inc Been A Good Investment?
Boasting a total shareholder return of 95% over three years, Golden Entertainment Inc has done well by shareholders. This strong performance might mean some shareholders don’t mind if the CEO is paid more than is normal for a company of its size.
In Summary…
We examined the amount Golden Entertainment Inc pays its CEO, and compared it to the amount paid by similar sized companies. As discussed above, we discovered that the company pays more than the median of that group.
One might like to have seen stronger growth, but shareholder returns have been pleasing, over the last three years. As a result of the juicy return to investors, the CEO remuneration may well be quite reasonable. Whatever your view on compensation, you might want to check if insiders are buying or selling Golden Entertainment shares (free trial).
Or you could feast your eyes on this interactive graph depicting past earnings, cash flow 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.
