Is It Too Late To Consider Buying SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM)?

SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM), which is in the consumer finance business, and is based in United States, saw significant share price movement during recent months on the NASDAQGS, rising to highs of $10.13 and falling to the lows of $7.84. Some share price movements can give investors a better opportunity to enter into the stock, and potentially buy at a lower price. A question to answer is whether SLM's current trading price of $8.11 reflective of the actual value of the mid-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Let’s take a look at SLM’s outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change.

See our latest analysis for SLM

What is SLM worth?

The stock seems fairly valued at the moment according to my relative valuation model. In this instance, I’ve used the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio given that there is not enough information to reliably forecast the stock’s cash flows. I find that SLM’s ratio of 6.48x is trading slightly below its industry peers’ ratio of 9.26x, which means if you buy SLM today, you’d be paying a fair price for it. And if you believe that SLM should be trading at this level in the long run, then there’s not much of an upside to gain from mispricing. Is there another opportunity to buy low in the future? Since SLM’s share price is quite volatile, we could potentially see it sink lower (or rise higher) in the future, giving us another chance to buy. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for how much the stock moves relative to the rest of the market.

What kind of growth will SLM generate?

Future outlook is an important aspect when you’re looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so let’s also take a look at the company's future expectations. With profit expected to grow by a double-digit 18% over the next couple of years, the outlook is positive for SLM. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? SLM’s optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading around its fair value. However, there are also other important factors which we haven’t considered today, such as the track record of its management team. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at SLM? Will you have enough confidence to invest in the company should the price drop below its fair value?

Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping an eye on SLM, now may not be the most optimal time to buy, given it is trading around its fair value. However, the positive outlook is encouraging for SLM, which means it’s worth diving deeper into other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop.

Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters – the fundamentals – before you make a decision on SLM. You can find everything you need to know about SLM in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in SLM, you can use our free platform to see my list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

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.

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. Thank you for reading.