Tim Gitzel has been the CEO of Cameco Corporation (TSE:CCO) since 2011. This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other companies that have similar market capitalization. After that, we will consider the growth in the business. 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 Cameco

How Does Tim Gitzel’s Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

At the time of writing our data says that Cameco Corporation has a market cap of CA$5.8b, and is paying total annual CEO compensation of CA$6.3m. (This figure is for the year to 2017). We think total compensation is more important but we note that the CEO salary is lower, at CA$1.0m. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations from CA$2.7b to CA$8.7b, and the median CEO compensation was CA$4.1m.

It would therefore appear that Cameco Corporation pays Tim Gitzel more than the median CEO remuneration at companies of a similar size, in the same market. However, this fact alone doesn’t mean the remuneration is too high. We can get a better idea of how generous the pay is by looking at the performance of the underlying business.

You can see a visual representation of the CEO compensation at Cameco, below.

Is Cameco Corporation Growing?

Over the last three years Cameco Corporation has shrunk its earnings per share by an average of 84% per year. In the last year, its revenue is down -7.4%.

Unfortunately, earnings per share have trended lower over the last three years. 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.

It could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.

Has Cameco Corporation Been A Good Investment?

Since shareholders would have lost about 9.7% over three years, some Cameco Corporation shareholders would surely be feeling negative emotions. So shareholders would probably think the company shouldn’t be too generous with CEO compensation.

In Summary…

We compared the total CEO remuneration paid by Cameco Corporation, and compared it to remuneration at a group of similar sized companies. Our data suggests that it pays above the median CEO pay within that group.

Earnings per share have not grown in three years, and the revenue growth fails to impress us.

Arguably worse, investors are without a positive return for the last three years. Some might well form the view that the CEO is paid too generously! Shareholders may want to check for free if Cameco insiders are buying or selling shares.

Or you might prefer examine intently this intuitive graph showing past earnings and revenue.

To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.

The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.