Business briefs: What USF graduates earn and more

The median wage for a graduate of University of South Florida St. Petersburg with a bachelor’s degree one year after graduation is $36,800.

University of South Florida President Judy Genshaft (Photo by Matt May/University of South Florida)

That’s one of the benchmarks that was taken into account when a committee of the USF Board of Trustees granted Judy Genshaft, the university’s outgoing president, a $210,000 performance-based stipend.

A report the committee considered Monday evaluated Genshaft’s performance on a wide range of goals, including student success and post-graduation median pay.

USF St. Pete was the only one of the system’s campuses that exceeded its goal, which was $37,600, the report said.

Still, graduates with a bachelor’s from USF St. Pete and employed full-time had the lowest median salary a year after leaving school. For USF Tampa, the median wage was $37,400 and for USF Sarasota-Manatee it was $37,000.

Job gains

A separate report from Paychex (NASDAQ: PAYX) showed an uptick in wages at small businesses in the Tampa-St. Pete metro area and nationally.

Paychex’ October report showed hourly wages in the local area averaged $24.22, a 2.23 percent increase from a month earlier, and $820.47 a week, up 2.97 percent. Workers also are putting in more hours — an average of 33.8 hours a week, an increase of 0.33 percent.

Nationally, hourly earnings average $26.85, the report said.

The Tampa metro also was in the top five metros nationally in job gains, the Paychex report said.

Earnings sizzle

Two of the largest companies in the Tampa Bay area posted better-than-expected earnings reports early Tuesday.

WellCare Health Plans (NYSE: WCG), a managed health care provider focused on Medicare and Medicaid, reported $130.6 million in net income, or $2.70 a share, on revenue of $5.06 billion for the third quarter of 2018.  The Tampa-based company exceeded its growth outlook after completing the purchase of Meridian, a managed care plan in Detroit, said Ken Burdick, CEO. WellCare raised its earnings guidance for the full year to a range of $10.90 to $11 a share.

MarineMax (NYSE: HZO), a recreational boat and yacht retailer headquartered in Clearwater, ended its fiscal year on Sept. 30 with $1.2 billion in revenue, up 12 percent from the previous fiscal year, and net income for fiscal 2018 of $39.3 million, or $1.71 a share.

MarineMax, which has rebounded since the recession cut sharply into its sales, also issued earnings guidance, saying it expects earnings per share in the range of $1.85 to $1.95 for fiscal 2019.