Should You Worry About Zebra Technologies Corporation's (NASDAQ:ZBRA) CEO Pay?
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Anders Gustafsson has been the CEO of Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA) since 2007. 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 method should give us information to assess how appropriately the company pays the CEO.
See our latest analysis for Zebra Technologies
How Does Anders Gustafsson's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
Our data indicates that Zebra Technologies Corporation is worth US$9.6b, and total annual CEO compensation is US$9.5m. (This number is for the twelve months until December 2018). We note that's an increase of 22% above last year. While we always look at total compensation first, we note that the salary component is less, at US$988k. As part of our analysis we looked at companies in the same jurisdiction, with market capitalizations of US$4.0b to US$12b. The median total CEO compensation was US$6.9m.
Thus we can conclude that Anders Gustafsson receives more in total compensation than the median of a group of companies in the same market, and of similar size to Zebra Technologies Corporation. However, this doesn't necessarily mean the pay is too high. We can better assess whether the pay is overly generous by looking into the underlying business performance.
The graphic below shows how CEO compensation at Zebra Technologies has changed from year to year.
Is Zebra Technologies Corporation Growing?
Over the last three years Zebra Technologies Corporation has grown its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 123% per year (using a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue is up 12%.
This shows that the company has improved itself over the last few years. Good news for shareholders. This sort of respectable year-on-year revenue growth is often seen at a healthy, growing business. Shareholders might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts.
Has Zebra Technologies Corporation Been A Good Investment?
Boasting a total shareholder return of 215% over three years, Zebra Technologies Corporation has done well by shareholders. This strong performance might mean some shareholders don't mind if the CEO were to be paid more than is normal for a company of its size.
In Summary...
We compared the total CEO remuneration paid by Zebra Technologies Corporation, and compared it to remuneration at a group of similar sized companies. Our data suggests that it pays above the median CEO pay within that group.
However, the earnings per share growth over three years is certainly impressive. In addition, shareholders have done well 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 Zebra Technologies.
Important note: Zebra Technologies 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.
