Yahoo Finance Is Zoetis Inc.'s (NYSE:ZTS) CEO Pay Justified?
Juan Alaix has been the CEO of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) since 2012. This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other large companies. Next, we'll consider growth that the business demonstrates. And finally we will reflect on how common stockholders have fared in the last few years, as a secondary measure of performance. This method should give us information to assess how appropriately the company pays the CEO.
See our latest analysis for Zoetis
How Does Juan Alaix's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
At the time of writing, our data says that Zoetis Inc. has a market cap of US$57b, and reported total annual CEO compensation of US$12m for the year to December 2018. We think total compensation is more important but we note that the CEO salary is lower, at US$1.2m. We note that more than half of the total compensation is not the salary; and performance requirements may apply to this non-salary portion. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations over US$8.0b and the median CEO total compensation was US$11m. (We took a wide range because the CEOs of massive companies tend to be paid similar amounts - even though some are quite a bit bigger than others).
So Juan Alaix receives a similar amount to the median CEO pay, amongst the companies we looked at. Although this fact alone doesn't tell us a great deal, it becomes more relevant when considered against the business performance.
You can see a visual representation of the CEO compensation at Zoetis, below.
Is Zoetis Inc. Growing?
Zoetis Inc. has increased its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 27% a year, over the last three years (using a line of best fit). It achieved revenue growth of 8.2% over the last year.
This demonstrates that the company has been improving recently. A good result. It's also good to see modest revenue growth, suggesting the underlying business is healthy. It could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.
Has Zoetis Inc. Been A Good Investment?
Boasting a total shareholder return of 140% over three years, Zoetis Inc. has done well by shareholders. So they may not be at all concerned if the CEO were to be paid more than is normal for companies around the same size.
In Summary...
Juan Alaix is paid around the same as most CEOs of large companies.
The company is growing earnings per share and total shareholder returns have been pleasing. Although the pay is a normal amount, some shareholders probably consider it fair or modest, given the good performance of the stock. If you think CEO compensation levels are interesting you will probably really like this free visualization of insider trading at Zoetis.
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.
