SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) Looks Interesting, And It's About To Pay A Dividend
SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 4 days. You can purchase shares before the 5th of March in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 16th of March.
SLM's next dividend payment will be US$0.03 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed US$0.12 to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that SLM has a trailing yield of 1.2% on the current share price of $10.42. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. So we need to investigate whether SLM can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.
Check out our latest analysis for SLM
Dividends are typically paid out of company income, so if a company pays out more than it earned, its dividend is usually at a higher risk of being cut. SLM has a low and conservative payout ratio of just 9.1% of its income after tax.
Generally speaking, the lower a company's payout ratios, the more resilient its dividend usually is.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. That's why it's comforting to see SLM's earnings have been skyrocketing, up 25% per annum for the past five years.
The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. SLM has seen its dividend decline 24% per annum on average over the past six years, which is not great to see. SLM is a rare case where dividends have been decreasing at the same time as earnings per share have been improving. It's unusual to see, and could point to unstable conditions in the core business, or more rarely an intensified focus on reinvesting profits.
The Bottom Line
Is SLM an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? When companies are growing rapidly and retaining a majority of the profits within the business, it's usually a sign that reinvesting earnings creates more value than paying dividends to shareholders. This strategy can add significant value to shareholders over the long term - as long as it's done without issuing too many new shares. Overall, SLM looks like a promising dividend stock in this analysis, and we think it would be worth investigating further.
Wondering what the future holds for SLM? See what the eight analysts we track are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow
We wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see, though. Here's a list of interesting dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
