Stephen R. Anastasio
About Stephen R. Anastasio
Stephen R. Anastasio (age 66 as of June 30, 2025) is Vice President (since Dec 2010), Treasurer (since Sept 2005), and a Director (since Feb 2010) of Value Line, Inc.; he has been employed by the company for 30+ years, previously serving as Chief Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer, and Corporate Controller. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University . Company-level performance over FY2023–FY2025 shows revenues declining while net income rose, and EBITDA contracted, highlighting a profit-resilient but growth-challenged profile during this period (see tables below) *. Five-year TSR peaked in FY2022 and moderated thereafter, with FY2025 TSR at $149.24 (base $100 metric) .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Value Line, Inc. | Vice President | 2010–present | Senior executive oversight and execution across operations |
| Value Line, Inc. | Treasurer | 2005–present | Corporate treasury, capital allocation, financial controls |
| Value Line, Inc. | Director | 2010–present | Board oversight; member of Executive Committee |
| Value Line, Inc. | Chief Financial Officer (prior role) | Not disclosed | Corporate finance leadership; reporting and control |
| Value Line, Inc. | Chief Accounting Officer (prior role) | Not disclosed | Accounting policy, reporting integrity |
| Value Line, Inc. | Corporate Controller (prior role) | Not disclosed | Operational accounting, internal controls |
External Roles
No external public company board roles or external executive roles are disclosed in the proxy biographies for Mr. Anastasio .
Fixed Compensation
| Metric ($) | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Salary | 465,000 | 545,000 | 545,000 |
| Annual Bonus (Cash) | 235,000 | 350,285 | 307,215 |
| All Other Compensation (Profit Sharing Plan) | 12,200 | 13,200 | 15,042 |
| Total Compensation | 712,200 | 908,485 | 867,257 |
- All Other Compensation consists of vested company contributions under Value Line’s Profit Sharing and Savings Plan; contributions vest based on length of service and are payable at retirement, death, disability, or termination .
Performance Compensation
| Year | Incentive Type | Metric | Weighting | Target | Actual | Payout ($) | Vesting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY 2023 | Annual bonus (cash) | Discretionary: contributions to reducing company costs, improving efficiencies, increasing revenues and profits | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Qualitative assessment (CEO review) | 235,000 | Determined and paid after fiscal year; no vesting schedule |
| FY 2024 | Annual bonus (cash) | Discretionary as above | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Qualitative assessment (CEO review) | 350,285 | Determined and paid after fiscal year; no vesting schedule |
| FY 2025 | Annual bonus (cash) | Discretionary as above | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Qualitative assessment (CEO review) | 307,215 | Determined and paid after fiscal year; no vesting schedule |
- Company states fewer than 5% of employees typically receive additional cash bonuses, with decisions made post-fiscal year to discourage excessive risk-taking; executives (other than CEO) bonuses are set by CEO based on responsibilities, contributions, and leadership outcomes .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Beneficial Ownership (shares) | 600 shares; less than 1% of outstanding |
| Shares Outstanding (as of record date) | 9,409,522 |
| Stock Ownership Guidelines | No formal guidelines; directors and executive officers encouraged to hold at least a nominal amount of stock |
| Hedging/Pledging | Company states it does not hedge, limit, or protect any shareholder from risk of loss on common stock; no specific pledging or hedging disclosures for executives in the proxy |
- No RSUs/PSUs/option awards are disclosed for Mr. Anastasio in FY2023–FY2025; compensation is cash-based with profit-sharing plan contributions .
Employment Terms
- No formal employment incentive agreements are in place for executive officers, which the company believes discourages short-term risk-taking; compensation decisions incorporate multiple qualitative factors to avoid undue focus on single metrics .
- Profit Sharing and Savings Plan: discretionary annual contributions based on net operating income; vesting tied to length of service; amounts reported represent annual vested company contributions .
- Severance, change-of-control, non-compete, non-solicit, garden leave, clawbacks, tax gross-ups, deferred compensation, SERP, and perquisites beyond routine business expense reimbursement and standard employee insurance are not disclosed for Mr. Anastasio in the proxy .
Board Governance
- Board Service: Director since 2010; member of the Executive Committee of the Board . Attendance: 100% of Board and committee meetings in fiscal 2025 .
- Independence: He is an employee director and thus not independent under NASDAQ rules; Audit and Compensation Committees are composed entirely of independent directors (Davis, Fiore, Muenzer) .
- Leadership/Structure: CEO also serves as Chairman; Board has no Lead Independent Director; company operates as a “controlled company” due to AB&Co. ownership (91.76%), exempt from NASDAQ’s majority-independent board requirement .
- Director Compensation: Employee directors receive no additional compensation for Board service beyond employee compensation .
Company Performance and Pay Context
| Metric | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenues ($) | 39,695,000 | 37,487,000 | 35,079,000 |
| EBITDA ($) | 12,770,000* | 10,488,000* | 7,128,000* |
| Net Income ($) | 18,069,000 | 19,016,000 | 20,686,000 |
Values with asterisks were retrieved from S&P Global.
| TSR (Value of $100) | FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company TSR | 101.58 | 222.34 | 158.31 | 128.55 | 149.24 |
| Peer Group TSR | 132.73 | 118.11 | 116.62 | 133.82 | 156.86 |
| Net Income ($) | 23,280,000 | 23,822,000 | 18,069,000 | 19,016,000 | 20,686,000 |
Say-on-Pay and Shareholder Feedback
- Frequency: Every three years, next advisory vote expected in calendar 2026 .
- 2023 Vote Outcome: 99.9% of votes cast supported executive compensation; excluding AB&Co. and directors/officers, approximately 2% voted against; Board/Comp Committee determined no changes were necessary .
Compensation Committee Analysis
- Composition: Independent directors Davis, Fiore, Muenzer; no formal charter adopted for the Compensation Committee .
- Consultant: Committee did not engage an outside consultant for CEO compensation; peer group comparators referenced from prior year (Daily Journal, Donnelley Financial, Forrester, Moody’s, Morningstar, MarketAxess) .
Related Party Transactions and Controls
- AB&Co. reimbursements: Company reimbursed $356,000 for payments/services provided to AB&Co., reviewed and approved by the Board .
- Tax-sharing: Company included in consolidated tax returns filed by AB&Co.; paid $5,058,000 to AB&Co. for federal income taxes under tax-sharing arrangement for fiscal 2025 .
- Section 16(a) Compliance: All executive officers and directors complied with SEC ownership reporting requirements in fiscal 2025 .
Investment Implications
- Alignment risk: Mr. Anastasio’s beneficial ownership is small (600 shares, <1%), and the company lacks formal stock ownership guidelines, pointing to a weaker “skin-in-the-game” alignment versus equity-centric pay models .
- Cash-heavy incentives: Executive compensation is primarily fixed salary plus discretionary cash bonus with qualitative metrics and no formal targets/weights, limiting pay-for-performance transparency and creating potential variability in bonus outcomes tied to CEO assessment .
- Governance constraints: Value Line is a controlled company (AB&Co. owns 91.76%) and combines CEO/Chair without a Lead Independent Director; while Audit and Compensation Committees are independent, overall board independence requirements are not applicable, raising governance oversight considerations .
- Retention profile: Long tenure and participation in the profit-sharing plan suggest retention stability; absence of formal employment incentive agreements may lower short-term risk-taking but also leaves severance/change-of-control economics undisclosed, which can affect transition scenarios .
- Performance backdrop: Revenues declined FY2023–FY2025 while net income improved, and TSR fluctuated with a strong FY2022 peak; bonus decisions are made after fiscal year-end to discourage excessive risk-taking, supporting conservative incentive design but with limited performance linkage specificity .
Disclaimer: EBITDA values marked with * were retrieved from S&P Global.