Shareholders Will Probably Not Have Any Issues With The York Water Company's (NASDAQ:YORW) CEO Compensation

Key Insights

• York Water to hold its Annual General Meeting on 5th of May
• CEO JT Hand's total compensation includes salary of US$370.4k
• Total compensation is 30% below industry average
• York Water's EPS grew by 2.8% over the past three years while total shareholder loss over the past three years was 4.5%

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Performance at The York Water Company (NASDAQ:YORW) has been rather uninspiring recently and shareholders may be wondering how CEO JT Hand plans to fix this. One way they can exercise their influence on management is through voting on resolutions, such as executive remuneration at the next AGM, coming up on 5th of May. Setting appropriate executive remuneration to align with the interests of shareholders may also be a way to influence the company performance in the long run. In our opinion, CEO compensation does not look excessive and we discuss why.

Check out our latest analysis for York Water

Comparing The York Water Company's CEO Compensation With The Industry

Our data indicates that The York Water Company has a market capitalization of US$500m, and total annual CEO compensation was reported as US$498k for the year to December 2024. That's a modest increase of 7.3% on the prior year. We note that the salary portion, which stands at US$370.4k constitutes the majority of total compensation received by the CEO.

On comparing similar companies from the American Water Utilities industry with market caps ranging from US$200m to US$800m, we found that the median CEO total compensation was US$713k. In other words, York Water pays its CEO lower than the industry median. What's more, JT Hand holds US$1.2m worth of shares in the company in their own name, indicating that they have a lot of skin in the game.

Component	2024	2023	Proportion (2024)
Salary	US$370k	US$334k	74%
Other	US$128k	US$130k	26%
Total Compensation	US$498k	US$465k	100%

On an industry level, roughly 35% of total compensation represents salary and 65% is other remuneration. York Water is paying a higher share of its remuneration through a salary in comparison to the overall industry. If total compensation veers towards salary, it suggests that the variable portion - which is generally tied to performance, is lower.

The York Water Company's Growth

The York Water Company has seen its earnings per share (EPS) increase by 2.8% a year over the past three years. Its revenue is up 5.5% over the last year.

We're not particularly impressed by the revenue growth, but the modest improvement in EPS is good. Considering these factors we'd say performance has been pretty decent, though not amazing. Historical performance can sometimes be a good indicator on what's coming up next but if you want to peer into the company's future you might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts.

Has The York Water Company Been A Good Investment?

With a three year total loss of 4.5% for the shareholders, The York Water Company would certainly have some dissatisfied shareholders. This suggests it would be unwise for the company to pay the CEO too generously.

In Summary...

Flat earnings growth may also be to blame for the uninspiring share price performance. The upcoming AGM will provide shareholders the opportunity to raise their concerns and evaluate if the board’s judgement and decision-making is aligned with their expectations.

CEO pay is simply one of the many factors that need to be considered while examining business performance. That's why we did our research, and identified 2 warning signs for York Water (of which 1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) that you should know about in order to have a holistic understanding of the stock.

Switching gears from York Water, if you're hunting for a pristine balance sheet and premium returns, this free list of high return, low debt companies is a great place to look.

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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.