Jean Hale became the CEO of Community Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTBI) in 1999. This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other companies that have similar market capitalization. Then we'll look at a snap shot of the business growth. 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.

Check out our latest analysis for Community Trust Bancorp

How Does Jean Hale's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

Our data indicates that Community Trust Bancorp, Inc. is worth US$691m, and total annual CEO compensation is US$1.2m. (This is based on the year to December 2018). We think total compensation is more important but we note that the CEO salary is lower, at US$623k. As part of our analysis we looked at companies in the same jurisdiction, with market capitalizations of US$400m to US$1.6b. The median total CEO compensation was US$2.7m.

This would give shareholders a good impression of the company, since most similar size companies have to pay more, leaving less for shareholders. Though positive, it's important we delve into the performance of the actual business.

The graphic below shows how CEO compensation at Community Trust Bancorp has changed from year to year.

Is Community Trust Bancorp, Inc. Growing?

On average over the last three years, Community Trust Bancorp, Inc. has grown earnings per share (EPS) by 11% each year (using a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue is up 1.5%.

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 Community Trust Bancorp, Inc. Been A Good Investment?

With a total shareholder return of 16% over three years, Community Trust Bancorp, Inc. shareholders would, in general, be reasonably content. But they probably wouldn't be so happy as to think the CEO should be paid more than is normal, for companies around this size.

In Summary...

It looks like Community Trust Bancorp, Inc. pays its CEO less than similar sized companies. Considering the underlying business is growing earnings, this would suggest the pay is modest. While returns over the last few years haven't been top notch, there is nothing to suggest to us that Jean Hale is overcompensated.

It's great to see a company that pays its CEO reasonably, even while growing. But for me, it's even better if insiders are also buying shares with their own cold, hard, cash. CEO compensation is one thing, but it is also interesting to check if the CEO is buying or selling Community Trust Bancorp (free visualization of insider trades).