Why Comfort Systems USA, Inc.’s (NYSE:FIX) CEO Pay Matters To You
Brian Lane has been the CEO of Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (NYSE:FIX) since 2011. 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. This method should give us information to assess how appropriately the company pays the CEO.
Check out our latest analysis for Comfort Systems USA
How Does Brian Lane’s Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
According to our data, Comfort Systems USA, Inc. has a market capitalization of US$1.7b, and pays its CEO total annual compensation worth US$2.5m. (This figure is for the year to 2017). While we always look at total compensation first, we note that the salary component is less, at US$670k. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations from US$1.0b to US$3.2b, and the median CEO compensation was US$3.6m.
A first glance this seems like a real positive for shareholders, since Brian Lane is paid less than the average compensation paid by similar sized companies. While this is a good thing, you’ll need to understand the business better before you can form an opinion.
You can see a visual representation of the CEO compensation at Comfort Systems USA, below.
Is Comfort Systems USA, Inc. Growing?
Comfort Systems USA, Inc. has increased its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 17% a year, over the last three years Its revenue is up 20% over last year.
This demonstrates that the company has been improving recently. A good result. It’s a real positive to see this sort of growth in a single year. That suggests a healthy and growing business.
It could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.
Has Comfort Systems USA, Inc. Been A Good Investment?
I think that the total shareholder return of 53%, over three years, would leave most Comfort Systems USA, Inc. shareholders smiling. 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…
It looks like Comfort Systems USA, Inc. pays its CEO less than similar sized companies. Many would consider this to indicate that the pay is modest since the business is growing. The strong history of shareholder returns might even have some thinking that Brian Lane deserves a raise!
It’s not often we see shareholders do so well, and yet the CEO is paid modestly. But it is even better if company insiders are also buying shares with their own money. If you think CEO compensation levels are interesting you will probably really like this free visualization of insider trading at Comfort Systems USA.
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.
