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Is Sterling Bancorp's (NYSE:STL) CEO Being Overpaid?

Jack Kopnisky has been the CEO of Sterling Bancorp (NYSE:STL) since 2011. This report will, first, examine the CEO compensation levels in comparison to CEO compensation at companies of similar size. 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 Sterling Bancorp

How Does Jack Kopnisky's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

According to our data, Sterling Bancorp has a market capitalization of US$4.1b, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth US$4.3m over the year to December 2018. We think total compensation is more important but we note that the CEO salary is lower, at US$850k. We further remind readers that the CEO may face performance requirements to receive the non-salary part of the total compensation. As part of our analysis we looked at companies in the same jurisdiction, with market capitalizations of US$2.0b to US$6.4b. The median total CEO compensation was US$4.9m.

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So Jack Kopnisky receives a similar amount to the median CEO pay, amongst the companies we looked at. This doesn't tell us a whole lot on its own, but looking at the performance of the actual business will give us useful context.

You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Sterling Bancorp has changed over time.

NYSE:STL CEO Compensation, January 16th 2020
NYSE:STL CEO Compensation, January 16th 2020

Is Sterling Bancorp Growing?

Sterling Bancorp 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). Revenue was pretty flat on last year.

Overall this is a positive result for shareholders, showing that the company has improved in recent years. The lack of revenue growth isn't ideal, but it is the bottom line that counts most in business. It could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.

Has Sterling Bancorp Been A Good Investment?

Since shareholders would have lost about 8.9% over three years, some Sterling Bancorp shareholders would surely be feeling negative emotions. This suggests it would be unwise for the company to pay the CEO too generously.

In Summary...

Remuneration for Jack Kopnisky is close enough to the median pay for a CEO of a similar sized company .

We think that the EPS growth is very pleasing, but we find the returns over the last three years to be lacking. Considering the the positives we don't think the CEO pays is too high, but it's certainly hard to argue it is too low. Shareholders may want to check for free if Sterling Bancorp insiders are buying or selling shares.

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.

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.

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. Thank you for reading.