Here's What We Think About Golden Entertainment, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GDEN) CEO Pay
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In 2015 Blake Sartini was appointed CEO of Golden Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:GDEN). 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. And finally - as a second measure of performance - we will look at the returns shareholders have received over the last few years. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels.
View our latest analysis for Golden Entertainment
How Does Blake Sartini's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
Our data indicates that Golden Entertainment, Inc. is worth US$405m, and total annual CEO compensation is US$3.8m. (This figure is for the year to December 2018). We think total compensation is more important but we note that the CEO salary is lower, at US$1.0m. We examined companies with market caps from US$200m to US$800m, and discovered that the median CEO total compensation of that group was US$1.8m.
Thus we can conclude that Blake Sartini receives more in total compensation than the median of a group of companies in the same market, and of similar size to Golden Entertainment, Inc.. 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 Golden Entertainment has changed from year to year.
Is Golden Entertainment, Inc. Growing?
Golden Entertainment, Inc. has reduced its earnings per share by an average of 105% a year, over the last three years (measured with a line of best fit). It achieved revenue growth of 42% over the last year.
The reduction in earnings per share, over three years, is arguably concerning. On the other hand, the strong revenue growth suggests the business is growing. It's hard to reach a conclusion about business performance right now. This may be one to watch. You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings.
Has Golden Entertainment, Inc. Been A Good Investment?
With a total shareholder return of 9.8% over three years, Golden Entertainment, Inc. has done okay by shareholders. But they probably don't want to see the CEO paid more than is normal for companies around the same size.
In Summary...
We compared the total CEO remuneration paid by Golden Entertainment, Inc., and compared it to remuneration at a group of similar sized companies. As discussed above, we discovered that the company pays more than the median of that group.
We generally prefer to see stronger EPS growth, and we're not particularly impressed with the total shareholder return, over the last three years. Considering this, we wouldn't want to see any big pay rises, although we'd stop short of calling the CEO compensation unfair. CEO compensation is one thing, but it is also interesting to check if the CEO is buying or selling Golden Entertainment (free visualization of insider trades).
Arguably, business quality is much more important than CEO compensation levels. So check out this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity 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.
