Our Take On Wingstop Inc.’s (NASDAQ:WING) CEO Salary
In 2012 Charlie Morrison was appointed CEO of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING). First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at similar sized 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 method should give us information to assess how appropriately the company pays the CEO.
View our latest analysis for Wingstop
How Does Charlie Morrison’s Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
According to our data, Wingstop Inc. has a market capitalization of US$1.8b, and pays its CEO total annual compensation worth US$2.8m. (This is based on the year to 2017). We think total compensation is more important but we note that the CEO salary is lower, at US$629k. 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$3.8m.
So Charlie Morrison is paid around the average of the companies we looked at. This doesn’t tell us a whole lot on its own, but looking at the performance of the actual business will give us useful context.
The graphic below shows how CEO compensation at Wingstop has changed from year to year.
Is Wingstop Inc. Growing?
Over the last three years Wingstop Inc. has grown its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 38% per year. Its revenue is down -2.1% over last year.
This demonstrates that the company has been improving recently. A good result. The lack of revenue growth isn’t ideal, but it is the bottom line that counts most in business.
You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings.
Has Wingstop Inc. Been A Good Investment?
I think that the total shareholder return of 236%, over three years, would leave most Wingstop Inc. shareholders smiling. So they may not be at all concerned if the CEO is paid more than is normal for companies around the same size.
In Summary…
Remuneration for Charlie Morrison is close enough to the median pay for a CEO of a similar sized company .
Few would be critical of the leadership, since returns have been juicy and earnings per share are moving in the right direction. So one could argue the CEO compensation is quite modest, if you consider company performance! Shareholders may want to check for free if Wingstop insiders are buying or selling shares.
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.
