Key Insights

• Evergy will host its Annual General Meeting on 7th of May
• CEO David Campbell's total compensation includes salary of US$1.06m
• The overall pay is 47% below the industry average
• Evergy's EPS grew by 5.4% over the past three years while total shareholder loss over the past three years was 8.1%

Performance at Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) has been rather uninspiring recently and shareholders may be wondering how CEO David Campbell plans to fix this. At the next AGM coming up on 7th of May, they can influence managerial decision making through voting on resolutions, including executive remuneration. Voting on executive pay could be a powerful way to influence management, as studies have shown that the right compensation incentives impact company performance. In our opinion, CEO compensation does not look excessive and we discuss why.

Comparing Evergy, Inc.'s CEO Compensation With The Industry

At the time of writing, our data shows that Evergy, Inc. has a market capitalization of US$12b, and reported total annual CEO compensation of US$7.1m for the year to December 2023. That's a fairly small increase of 3.6% over the previous year. While we always look at total compensation first, our analysis shows that the salary component is less, at US$1.1m.

For comparison, other companies in the American Electric Utilities industry with market capitalizations above US$8.0b, reported a median total CEO compensation of US$14m. This suggests that David Campbell is paid below the industry median. Furthermore, David Campbell directly owns US$4.7m worth of shares in the company, implying that they are deeply invested in the company's success.

On an industry level, roughly 11% of total compensation represents salary and 89% is other remuneration. According to our research, Evergy has allocated a higher percentage of pay to salary in comparison to the wider industry. It's important to note that a slant towards non-salary compensation suggests that total pay is tied to the company's performance.

A Look at Evergy, Inc.'s Growth Numbers

Evergy, Inc.'s earnings per share (EPS) grew 5.4% per year over the last three years. Its revenue is down 6.0% over the previous year.

We would argue that the lack of revenue growth in the last year is less than ideal, but it is good to see a modest EPS growth at least. In conclusion we can't form a strong opinion about business performance yet; but it's one worth watching. 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 Evergy, Inc. Been A Good Investment?

With a three year total loss of 8.1% for the shareholders, Evergy, Inc. would certainly have some dissatisfied shareholders. Therefore, it might be upsetting for shareholders if the CEO were paid generously.

To Conclude...

It may not be surprising to some that the recent weak performance in the share price may be driven in part by rather flat EPS growth. Shareholders will get the chance to question the board on key concerns and revisit their investment thesis with regards to the company.

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. In our study, we found 2 warning signs for Evergy you should be aware of, and 1 of them makes us a bit uncomfortable.

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.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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.