Yahoo Finance Should You Be Pleased About The CEO Pay At American States Water Company's (NYSE:AWR)
Robert Sprowls has been the CEO of American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) since 2009. This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other companies that have similar market capitalization. After that, we will consider the growth in the business. And finally we will reflect on how common stockholders have fared in the last few years, as a secondary measure of performance. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels.
Check out our latest analysis for American States Water
How Does Robert Sprowls's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
At the time of writing, our data says that American States Water Company has a market cap of US$3.1b, and reported total annual CEO compensation of US$3.0m for the year to December 2018. While we always look at total compensation first, we note that the salary component is less, at US$772k. Importantly, there may be performance hurdles relating to the non-salary component of the total compensation. We examined companies with market caps from US$2.0b to US$6.4b, and discovered that the median CEO total compensation of that group was US$5.1m.
This would give shareholders a good impression of the company, since most similar size companies have to pay more, leaving less for shareholders. While this is a good thing, you'll need to understand the business better before you can form an opinion.
You can see, below, how CEO compensation at American States Water has changed over time.
Is American States Water Company Growing?
Over the last three years American States Water Company has grown its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 6.2% per year (using a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue is up 9.7%.
I'm not particularly impressed by the revenue growth, but I'm happy with the modest EPS growth. Considering these factors I'd say performance has been pretty decent, though not amazing. You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings.
Has American States Water Company Been A Good Investment?
Most shareholders would probably be pleased with American States Water Company for providing a total return of 109% over three years. As a result, some may believe the CEO should be paid more than is normal for companies of similar size.
In Summary...
American States Water Company is currently paying its CEO below what is normal for companies of its size.
It's well worth noting that while Robert Sprowls is paid below what is normal at companies of similar size, the returns have been very pleasing, over the last three years. We would like to see EPS growth, but in our view it seems the CEO is modestly remunerated. Shareholders may want to check for free if American States Water insiders are buying or selling shares.
Important note: American States Water 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.
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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.
