Key Insights

• Compugen to hold its Annual General Meeting on 12th of September
• Total pay for CEO Anat Cohen-Dayag includes US$479.2k salary
• The overall pay is 47% below the industry average
• Over the past three years, Compugen's EPS grew by 25% and over the past three years, the total loss to shareholders 71%

The performance at Compugen Ltd. (NASDAQ:CGEN) has been rather lacklustre of late and shareholders may be wondering what CEO Anat Cohen-Dayag is planning to do about this. At the next AGM coming up on 12th of September, they can influence managerial decision making through voting on resolutions, including executive remuneration. It has been shown that setting appropriate executive remuneration incentivises the management to act in the interests of shareholders. We have prepared some analysis below to show that CEO compensation looks to be reasonable.

How Does Total Compensation For Anat Cohen-Dayag Compare With Other Companies In The Industry?

At the time of writing, our data shows that Compugen Ltd. has a market capitalization of US$176m, and reported total annual CEO compensation of US$1.5m for the year to December 2023. That's a fairly small increase of 7.4% over the previous year. While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth acknowledging that the salary portion is lower, valued at US$479k.

In comparison with other companies in the American Biotechs industry with market capitalizations ranging from US$100m to US$400m, the reported median CEO total compensation was US$2.8m. This suggests that Anat Cohen-Dayag is paid below the industry median. What's more, Anat Cohen-Dayag holds US$102k worth of shares in the company in their own name.

Speaking on an industry level, nearly 23% of total compensation represents salary, while the remainder of 77% is other remuneration. Compugen pays out 33% of remuneration in the form of a salary, significantly higher than the industry average. If non-salary compensation dominates total pay, it's an indicator that the executive's salary is tied to company performance.

Compugen Ltd.'s Growth

Compugen Ltd. has seen its earnings per share (EPS) increase by 25% a year over the past three years. In the last year, its revenue is up 470%.

Shareholders would be glad to know that the company has improved itself over the last few years. The combination of strong revenue growth with medium-term EPS improvement certainly points to the kind of growth we like to see. Looking ahead, you might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for the company's future earnings..

Has Compugen Ltd. Been A Good Investment?

Few Compugen Ltd. shareholders would feel satisfied with the return of -71% over three years. Therefore, it might be upsetting for shareholders if the CEO were paid generously.

To Conclude...

The fact that shareholders are sitting on a loss is certainly disheartening. The share price trend has diverged with the robust growth in EPS however, suggesting there may be other factors that could be driving the price performance. A key question may be why the fundamentals have not yet been reflected into the share price. 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 compensation is an important area to keep your eyes on, but we've also need to pay attention to other attributes of the company. In our study, we found 2 warning signs for Compugen you should be aware of, and 1 of them is a bit concerning.

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.

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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.