David Peuse

About David Peuse

David J. Peuse is Director of Financial Reporting and Treasurer (Principal Financial Officer) of National Presto Industries (NPK). He has been with the company since 1996 and was elected Treasurer in May 2019; he is 55 years old per the company’s 2024 Form 10-K executive officer roster. Education is not disclosed in the company’s Item 10 executive officer biographies. During his tenure as PFO, NPK’s cumulative TSR (value of $100 invested at 12/31/2019) reached $149.83 in 2024, and net income was $41.5 million in 2024 (context: $20.7M in 2022 and $34.6M in 2023).

Past Roles

Organization	Role	Years	Strategic Impact
National Presto Industries	Treasurer (Principal Financial Officer)	2019–present	Company’s principal financial officer; signs SOX 302/906 certifications and oversees financial reporting controls.
National Presto Industries	Director of Financial Reporting	—	Leads external reporting; supports internal controls and disclosure processes.
National Presto Industries	Controller; Manager of General Accounting; Costing Manager; Business Systems Analyst; Internal Auditor	—	Progressive finance and accounting roles building cost, control, and reporting infrastructure since 1996.

External Roles

Organization	Role	Years	Notes
—	—	—	Company filings reviewed do not list any external public company directorships or public roles for Mr. Peuse.

Fixed Compensation

Metric	2022	2023	2024
Base Salary ($)	190,785	199,654	208,923
Target Bonus (%)	—	—	—
Actual Bonus Paid ($)	10,000	10,000	10,000
All Other Compensation ($)	15,635	15,834	17,320

Notes:

“All Other Compensation” primarily includes 401(k) employer contributions, life/disability premiums, and dividends on restricted stock (e.g., 2024 401(k) employer contribution for Mr. Peuse was $15,598).

Performance Compensation

Restricted stock is the primary long‑term incentive; the company does not grant options or option-like awards. Annual cash bonuses are discretionary and based on corporate and individual performance contributions (no preset financial metric weightings).

Annual Cash Bonus (Discretionary) | Year | Metric Basis | Target | Actual | Payout Form | Vesting | |---|---|---|---:|---|---| | 2022 | Discretionary (corporate + individual) | — | $10,000 | Cash | N/A | | 2023 | Discretionary (corporate + individual) | — | $10,000 | Cash | N/A | | 2024 | Discretionary (corporate + individual) | — | $10,000 | Cash | N/A |
Equity Awards (Restricted Stock Units/Restricted Stock) | Grant Date | Type | Shares | Grant-Date Fair Value ($) | Vesting Schedule | |---|---|---:|---:|---| | 12/31/2019 | RS | 56 | — | 100% on 3/15/2025; retirement accelerates vesting per plan. | | 12/31/2020 | RS | 226 | — | 100% on 3/15/2026; retirement accelerates vesting per plan. | | 12/31/2021 | RS | 304 | 24,937 (SCT 2021) | 100% on 3/15/2027; retirement accelerates vesting per plan. | | 12/31/2022 | RS | 292 | 19,990 (SCT 2022) | 100% on 3/15/2028; retirement accelerates vesting per plan. | | 01/02/2024 | RS (for 2023 perf.) | 186 | 15,001 | 100% on 3/15/2029; retirement accelerates vesting per plan. | | 01/02/2025 | RS (for 2024 perf.) | 254 | 25,000 (award amount) | 100% on 3/15/2030; retirement accelerates vesting per plan. |
Recently Vested (2024) | Vesting Date | Shares Vested | Value Realized ($) | |---|---:|---:| | 3/15/2024 | 34 | 2,586 |

Key plan terms:

Company does not grant stock options; no option exercises in 2024.
Change‑in‑control, death, disability, or retirement: all unvested RS vests immediately (single‑trigger on change‑in‑control).

Equity Ownership & Alignment

Item	Detail
Beneficial Ownership (3/24/2025)	2,182 shares; less than 1% of shares outstanding.
Shares Outstanding (Record Date)	7,144,062 (as of 3/24/2025).
Unvested RS (12/31/2024)	1,064 shares ($104,719 at $98.42) across 2019–2024 grants.
Options	None outstanding; company does not grant options.
Pledging/Hedging	Policy prohibits holding company stock in a margin account and bans short sales and trading puts/calls; policy does not specifically prohibit collars/swaps/forwards.
401(k) Shares	Beneficial ownership figures include company contributions of NPK shares into executive 401(k) accounts.
Ownership Guidelines	Not disclosed for executives; no guidelines noted in filings reviewed.

Vesting overhang and potential selling pressure:

Upcoming single‑date vesting events: 3/15/2025 (56 shares), 3/15/2026 (226), 3/15/2027 (304), 3/15/2028 (292), 3/15/2029 (186), 3/15/2030 (254). Aggregate unvested at 12/31/2024: 1,064 shares (excludes 1/2/2025 award).

Employment Terms

Term	Detail
Officer Term	One‑year terms for elected officers or until successor elected.
Employment Agreement	None; the company does not maintain employment or change‑in‑control agreements for executive officers.
Severance Multiples	Not applicable (no agreements disclosed).
Change‑in‑Control Economics	All unvested restricted stock vests upon change‑in‑control (single‑trigger) or upon death, disability, or retirement.
Clawback	Policy adopted to comply with SEC/NYSE recovery rules.
Non‑Compete/Non‑Solicit	Not disclosed in filings reviewed.

Performance & Track Record (Company Context)

Pay vs Performance (Company TSR and Net Income) | Metric | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |---|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:| | TSR: Value of $100 Investment | $107.53 | $105.57 | $93.13 | $115.30 | $149.83 | | Net Income ($000s) | 46,958 | 25,654 | 20,699 | 34,559 | 41,460 |

Observations:

TSR improved markedly in 2024, outpacing the company’s market‑cap peer basket used for the performance graph.
Compensation framework explicitly does not link pay to specific financial measures (e.g., TSR, net income) despite the disclosure of pay-versus-performance data.

Compensation Structure Analysis

Program relies on base salary plus discretionary annual cash bonuses and time‑vested restricted stock; no pre‑set financial performance metrics or weightings are used.
No stock options; equity awards are time‑based RS with single‑date vesting five years after grant, creating periodic “lump” vesting events.
Committee did not retain a compensation consultant and did not benchmark compensation levels in 2023–2024 reviews.
Clawback policy adopted to meet SEC/NYSE rules; Say‑on‑Pay support was 98.5% at the 2024 meeting (very high), versus 94.5% in 2023.
Hedging/pledging controls: short sales, margin accounts, and puts/calls are prohibited; collars/swaps/forwards are not explicitly prohibited under the policy.

Risk Indicators & Red Flags

Single‑trigger change‑in‑control acceleration on all unvested RS may create event‑driven windfalls and retention optionality around strategic transactions.
No employment or severance agreements: retention relies on time‑vested equity and base pay rather than contractual protections.
Hedging policy does not specifically ban certain derivative hedges (e.g., collars), which can weaken alignment if used (though short sales, margin, and puts/calls are prohibited).

Investment Implications

Alignment: Ownership is modest (2,182 shares, <1%); most equity value resides in unvested time‑based RS that vest on fixed dates and accelerate on change‑in‑control, creating periodic vest‑related supply and potential event‑driven incentives.
Pay‑for‑performance: Cash bonuses are discretionary and equity is time‑vested; the company explicitly does not tie executive pay to TSR, revenue, EBITDA, or other specific financial metrics—limiting direct performance alignment.
Governance signals: Strong Say‑on‑Pay approval (98.5%) and an SEC/NYSE‑compliant clawback reduce external governance pressure; absence of options simplifies dilution and cashless exercises.
Retention risk: Lack of employment agreements and time‑based vesting could elevate mobility risk post‑vesting; however, long tenure (since 1996) and ongoing multi‑year RS vesting reduce near‑term attrition risk.