What Did SITE Centers' (NYSE:SITC) CEO Take Home Last Year?

David Lukes has been the CEO of SITE Centers Corp. (NYSE:SITC) since 2017, and this article will examine the executive's compensation with respect to the overall performance of the company. This analysis will also evaluate the appropriateness of CEO compensation when taking into account the funds from operations and shareholder returns of the company.

Check out our latest analysis for SITE Centers

Comparing SITE Centers Corp.'s CEO Compensation With the industry

At the time of writing, our data shows that SITE Centers Corp. has a market capitalization of US$2.0b, and reported total annual CEO compensation of US$6.6m for the year to December 2019. We note that's an increase of 11% above last year. While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth acknowledging that the salary portion is lower, valued at US$850k.

For comparison, other companies in the same industry with market capitalizations ranging between US$1.0b and US$3.2b had a median total CEO compensation of US$4.5m. This suggests that David Lukes is paid more than the median for the industry. What's more, David Lukes holds US$7.0m worth of shares in the company in their own name, indicating that they have a lot of skin in the game.

Talking in terms of the industry, salary represented approximately 15% of total compensation out of all the companies we analyzed, while other remuneration made up 85% of the pie. SITE Centers sets aside a smaller share of compensation for salary, in comparison to the overall industry. If non-salary compensation dominates total pay, it's an indicator that the executive's salary is tied to company performance.

SITE Centers Corp.'s Growth

Over the last three years, SITE Centers Corp. has shrunk its funds from operations (FFO) by 12% per year. Its revenue is down 8.2% over the previous year.

Few shareholders would be pleased to read that FFO have declined. And the fact that revenue is down year on year arguably paints an ugly picture. These factors suggest that the business performance wouldn't really justify a high pay packet for the CEO. Historical performance can sometimes be a good indicator on what's coming up next but if you want to peer into the company's future you might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts.

Has SITE Centers Corp. Been A Good Investment?

With a total shareholder return of 0.6% over three years, SITE Centers Corp. has done okay by shareholders. But they probably wouldn't be so happy as to think the CEO should be paid more than is normal, for companies around this size.

To Conclude...

As we noted earlier, SITE Centers pays its CEO higher than the norm for similar-sized companies belonging to the same industry. This doesn't look great when you realize that the company has been suffering from negative FFO growth for the last three years. While shareholder returns are acceptable, they don't delight. So you can understand why we do not think CEO compensation is particularly modest!

It is always advisable to analyse CEO pay, along with performing a thorough analysis of the company's key performance areas. In our study, we found 4 warning signs for SITE Centers you should be aware of, and 1 of them is significant.

Switching gears from SITE Centers, if you're hunting for a pristine balance sheet and premium returns, this free list of high return, low debt companies is a great place to look.

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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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