Key Insights
- Ameresco will host its Annual General Meeting on 4th of June
- CEO George Sakellaris' total compensation includes salary of US$1.50m
- Total compensation is 50% below industry average
- Ameresco's three-year loss to shareholders was 76% while its EPS was down 12% over the past three years
The performance at Ameresco, Inc. (NYSE:AMRC) has been rather lacklustre of late and shareholders may be wondering what CEO George Sakellaris is planning to do about 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 4th of June. It has been shown that setting appropriate executive remuneration incentivises the management to act in the interests of shareholders. In our opinion, CEO compensation does not look excessive and we discuss why.
View our latest analysis for Ameresco
How Does Total Compensation For George Sakellaris Compare With Other Companies In The Industry?
At the time of writing, our data shows that Ameresco, Inc. has a market capitalization of US$746m, and reported total annual CEO compensation of US$1.5m for the year to December 2024. We note that's a decrease of 21% compared to last year. In particular, the salary of US$1.50m, makes up a huge portion of the total compensation being paid to the CEO.
On examining similar-sized companies in the American Construction industry with market capitalizations between US$400m and US$1.6b, we discovered that the median CEO total compensation of that group was US$3.1m. This suggests that George Sakellaris is paid below the industry median. What's more, George Sakellaris holds US$285m 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$1.5m | US$1.5m | 97% |
| Other | US$49k | US$471k | 3% |
| Total Compensation | US$1.5m | US$2.0m | 100% |
On an industry level, roughly 18% of total compensation represents salary and 82% is other remuneration. Ameresco has gone down a largely traditional route, paying George Sakellaris a high salary, giving it preference over non-salary benefits. If salary dominates total compensation, it suggests that CEO compensation is leaning less towards the variable component, which is usually linked with performance.
Ameresco, Inc.'s Growth
Over the last three years, Ameresco, Inc. has shrunk its earnings per share by 12% per year. Its revenue is up 30% over the last year.
Investors would be a bit wary of companies that have lower EPS On the other hand, the strong revenue growth suggests the business is growing. It's hard to reach a conclusion about business performance right now. This may be one to watch. 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 Ameresco, Inc. Been A Good Investment?
The return of -76% over three years would not have pleased Ameresco, Inc. shareholders. So shareholders would probably want the company to be less generous with CEO compensation.
In Summary...
Ameresco pays its CEO a majority of compensation through a salary. The fact that shareholders are sitting on a loss is certainly disheartening. The downward trend in share price performance may be attributable to the the fact that earnings growth has gone backwards. 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.
We can learn a lot about a company by studying its CEO compensation trends, along with looking at other aspects of the business. That's why we did our research, and identified 3 warning signs for Ameresco (of which 1 can't be ignored!) that you should know about in order to have a holistic understanding of the stock.
Switching gears from Ameresco, 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.