Michael Mullen has been the CEO of National Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:NHLD) since 2017, and this article will examine the executive's compensation with respect to the overall performance of the company. This analysis will also look to assess whether the CEO is appropriately paid, considering recent earnings growth and investor returns for National Holdings.

View our latest analysis for National Holdings

Comparing National Holdings Corporation's CEO Compensation With the industry

Our data indicates that National Holdings Corporation has a market capitalization of US$45m, and total annual CEO compensation was reported as US$1.8m for the year to September 2020. Notably, that's a decrease of 34% over the year before. While we always look at total compensation first, our analysis shows that the salary component is less, at US$354k.

In comparison with other companies in the industry with market capitalizations under US$200m, the reported median total CEO compensation was US$376k. Hence, we can conclude that Michael Mullen is remunerated higher than the industry median. What's more, Michael Mullen holds US$1.5m worth of shares in the company in their own name, indicating that they have a lot of skin in the game.

Speaking on an industry level, nearly 13% of total compensation represents salary, while the remainder of 87% is other remuneration. National Holdings pays out 19% of remuneration in the form of a salary, significantly higher than the industry average. If total compensation is slanted towards non-salary benefits, it indicates that CEO pay is linked to company performance.

National Holdings Corporation's Growth

National Holdings Corporation's earnings per share (EPS) grew 11% per year over the last three years. It achieved revenue growth of 20% over the last year.

Overall this is a positive result for shareholders, showing that the company has improved in recent years. This sort of respectable year-on-year revenue growth is often seen at a healthy, growing business. We don't have analyst forecasts, but you could get a better understanding of its growth by checking out this more detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Has National Holdings Corporation Been A Good Investment?

Given the total shareholder loss of 14% over three years, many shareholders in National Holdings Corporation are probably rather dissatisfied, to say the least. Therefore, it might be upsetting for shareholders if the CEO were paid generously.

In Summary...

As we touched on above, National Holdings Corporation is currently paying its CEO higher than the median pay for CEOs of companies belonging to the same industry and with similar market capitalizations. However, the EPS growth is certainly impressive, but we cannot say the same about the uninspiring shareholder returns (over the last three years). Although we don't think the CEO pay is too high, considering negative investor returns, it is more generous than modest.

CEO compensation is an important area to keep your eyes on, but we've also need to pay attention to other attributes of the company. We identified 3 warning signs for National Holdings (1 is potentially serious!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a different set of stocks. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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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