Schwab CEO Gets Pay Raise for '13 - Analyst Blog

The Charles Schwab Corp. SCHW, in a recent regulatory filing, announced a hike in chief executive officer CEO Walt Bettinger's remuneration for 2013. Bettinger received $12.73 million as compensation package, marking a 23.7% rise from 2012.

On a year-over-year basis, the CEO's base salary increased nearly 1.7% to $1.0 million. Stock and option awards were $8.3 million, up almost 27.6%, and non-equity incentive plan compensation and other compensation swelled 24.8% to $3.4 million.

This is the second time that Bettinger received a pay hike during his tenure as Schwab‘s CEO since 2008. His pay for 2012 was also 1.3% meatier than the prior year.

The CEO's pay mix for 2013 reveals that the base salary comprises 8% of the total compensation. The remaining 92% is variable and is a function of overall performance.

Consecutive pay raises reflect improved profitability for Schwab. The company's long-term strategies and initiatives have started yielding results aided by the overall improvement in the equity market. Schwab reported an 11% increase in top line, with core net new assets of $140.8 billion in 2013.

Further, Schwab has delivered a positive earnings beat in the trailing two quarters with an average beat of 2.0% in the last four quarters. Over the last 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2014 advanced 4.4% to 95 cents per share. Moreover, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2015 increased 3.6% to $1.16 per share over the same time frame. The positive estimate revisions indicate that the analysts are bullish about the company's growth prospects going forward.

Among other investment brokers, E*TRADE Financial Corp.'s ETFC CEO Paul Idzik, received $13.5 million for his first year of service to the company. The compensation included a signing bonus of $9.0 million. Further, TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.'s AMTD CEO Fred Tomczyk received $6.5 million for fiscal year 2013 (ended Sep 30).

Presently, Schwab carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked financial organizations include Investment Technology Group Inc. ITG with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).