Increases to CEO Compensation Might Be Put On Hold For Now at Cadiz Inc. (NASDAQ:CDZI)

CEO Scott Slater has done a decent job of delivering relatively good performance at Cadiz Inc. (NASDAQ:CDZI) recently. This is something shareholders will keep in mind as they cast their votes on company resolutions such as executive remuneration in the upcoming AGM on 17 June 2021. However, some shareholders may still be hesitant of being overly generous with CEO compensation.

Check out our latest analysis for Cadiz

How Does Total Compensation For Scott Slater Compare With Other Companies In The Industry?

Our data indicates that Cadiz Inc. has a market capitalization of US$527m, and total annual CEO compensation was reported as US$798k for the year to December 2020. We note that's an increase of 60% above last year. We think total compensation is more important but our data shows that the CEO salary is lower, at US$300k.

In comparison with other companies in the industry with market capitalizations ranging from US$200m to US$800m, the reported median CEO total compensation was US$286k. Accordingly, our analysis reveals that Cadiz Inc. pays Scott Slater north of the industry median. What's more, Scott Slater holds US$387k worth of shares in the company in their own name.

On an industry level, roughly 28% of total compensation represents salary and 72% is other remuneration. Cadiz pays out 38% of remuneration in the form of a salary, significantly higher than the industry average. If non-salary compensation dominates total pay, it's an indicator that the executive's salary is tied to company performance.

A Look at Cadiz Inc.'s Growth Numbers

Cadiz Inc.'s earnings per share (EPS) grew 5.3% per year over the last three years. It achieved revenue growth of 27% over the last year.

It's hard to interpret the strong revenue growth as anything other than a positive. With that in mind, the modestly improving EPS seems positive. We wouldn't say this is necessarily top notch growth, but it is certainly promising. Moving away from current form for a second, it could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.

Has Cadiz Inc. Been A Good Investment?

Cadiz Inc. has not done too badly by shareholders, with a total return of 1.8%, over three years. It would be nice to see that metric improve in the future. As a result, investors in the company might be reluctant about agreeing to increase CEO pay in the future, before seeing an improvement on their returns.

To Conclude...

Seeing that the company has put up a decent performance, only a few shareholders, if any at all, might have questions about the CEO pay in the upcoming AGM. Still, not all shareholders might be in favor of a pay raise to the CEO, seeing that they are already being paid higher than the industry.

CEO pay is simply one of the many factors that need to be considered while examining business performance. We did our research and identified 5 warning signs (and 3 which can't be ignored) in Cadiz we think you should know about.

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.

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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