In This Article:
This article will reflect on the compensation paid to Barry Quart who has served as CEO of Heron Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HRTX) since 2013. This analysis will also look to assess whether the CEO is appropriately paid, considering recent earnings growth and investor returns for Heron Therapeutics.
See our latest analysis for Heron Therapeutics
Comparing Heron Therapeutics, Inc.'s CEO Compensation With the industry
Our data indicates that Heron Therapeutics, Inc. has a market capitalization of US$1.3b, and total annual CEO compensation was reported as US$5.9m for the year to December 2019. This means that the compensation hasn't changed much from last year. While we always look at total compensation first, our analysis shows that the salary component is less, at US$639k.
On examining similar-sized companies in the industry with market capitalizations between US$1.0b and US$3.2b, we discovered that the median CEO total compensation of that group was US$4.0m. Hence, we can conclude that Barry Quart is remunerated higher than the industry median. Furthermore, Barry Quart directly owns US$1.3m worth of shares in the company.
| Component | 2019 | 2018 | Proportion (2019) |
| Salary | US$639k | US$614k | 11% |
| Other | US$5.2m | US$5.4m | 89% |
| Total Compensation | US$5.9m | US$6.0m | 100% |
On an industry level, roughly 23% of total compensation represents salary and 77% is other remuneration. In Heron Therapeutics' case, non-salary compensation represents a greater slice of total remuneration, in comparison to the broader industry. If total compensation is slanted towards non-salary benefits, it indicates that CEO pay is linked to company performance.
A Look at Heron Therapeutics, Inc.'s Growth Numbers
Heron Therapeutics, Inc.'s earnings per share (EPS) grew 21% per year over the last three years. It achieved revenue growth of 7.4% over the last year.
Shareholders would be glad to know that the company has improved itself over the last few years. It's also good to see modest revenue growth, suggesting the underlying business is healthy. 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 Heron Therapeutics, Inc. Been A Good Investment?
Given the total shareholder loss of 12% over three years, many shareholders in Heron Therapeutics, Inc. are probably rather dissatisfied, to say the least. So shareholders would probably want the company to be lessto generous with CEO compensation.
In Summary...
As previously discussed, Barry is compensated more than what is normal for CEOs of companies of similar size, and which belong to the same industry. But the company has impressed with its EPS growth, but we cannot say the same about the uninspiring shareholder returns (over the last three years). Although we don't think the CEO pay is too high, considering negative investor returns, it is more generous than modest.