Citigroup (C) CEO Corbat's 2019 Compensation Kept Stable

Citigroup’s (NYSE:C) chief executive officer (CEO) — Michael Corbat — did not receive any pay hike in his total compensation package. His annual salary for 2019 has been kept unchanged at $24 million, in line with 2018, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.

The CEO’s pay package includes a base salary of $1.5 million, cash bonus of $6.75 million, equity awards of about $7.9 million and a long-term performance-based pay of $7.9 million for 2019. In 2019, the CEO beat the financial targets by achieving tangible return on common equity, or ROTCE — a key profitability ratio — of 12.1%, above the target of 12%. Moreover, Corbat’s extraordinary leadership quality, CEO package of other peer banks and Citigroup’s strong operating performance in the year were taken into consideration.

The company’s net income climbed to $19.4 billion in the year, up 8% year over year. Further, the bank reported revenues of $74.3 billion, up 2% year over year.

Notably, in the stress test results for 2019, Citigroup emerged triumphant. The company not only managed to clear the test but outperformed other major banks as well. In its 2019 capital plan, Citigroup received approval for $17.1 billion worth of share repurchases for the four quarters, beginning Jul 1, 2019 and a 13.3% dividend hike.

Citigroup was steadily active in deploying capital in 2019 and investors’ concerns subsided on subdued macroeconomic factors. Therefore, the company's share price appreciated 17.2% in the year compared with 17.6% growth registered by the industry, following a 30% plunge in 2018.

Among other banking giants, Bank of America Corp.’s (NYSE:BAC) chairman as well as CEO — Brian T. Moynihan’s — total compensation for 2019 remained flat with the prior-year level. Other Wall Street biggies that have announced compensations for CEOs include JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) , with a hike of 1.6%, while Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) has announced a 7% reduction.

Though Wall Street big banks registered impressive top- and bottom-line growth, the restrained compensation reflects cost-effectiveness on a bleak revenue outlook.

Notably, Citigroup has improved on capital return to shareholders since the financial crisis, investment in core businesses and passed regulatory tests. Corbat has also been adept in strategically evaluating various facets of the bank’s major businesses. Besides announcing numerous cost-cutting initiatives and divestment of non-core units, the CEO has handled several legal settlements.

Citigroup’s fundamentals remain highly promising with a diverse business model and a strong balance sheet.

Citigroup currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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