Is SLM Corporation's (NASDAQ:SLM) CEO Paid At A Competitive Rate?
Ray Quinlan has been the CEO of SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) since 2014. First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at similar sized companies. Next, we'll consider growth that the business demonstrates. Third, we'll reflect on the total return to shareholders over three years, as a second measure of business performance. This process should give us an idea about how appropriately the CEO is paid.
See our latest analysis for SLM
How Does Ray Quinlan's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
At the time of writing our data says that SLM Corporation has a market cap of US$3.9b, and is paying total annual CEO compensation of US$6.2m. (This is based on the year to December 2018). While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth noting the salary is lower, valued at US$817k. When we examined a selection of companies with market caps ranging from US$2.0b to US$6.4b, we found the median CEO total compensation was US$5.1m.
So Ray Quinlan is paid around the average of the companies we looked at. This doesn't tell us a whole lot on its own, but looking at the performance of the actual business will give us useful context.
The graphic below shows how CEO compensation at SLM has changed from year to year.
Is SLM Corporation Growing?
SLM Corporation has increased its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 29% a year, over the last three years (using a line of best fit). It achieved revenue growth of 17% over the last year.
This demonstrates that the company has been improving recently. A good result. This sort of respectable year-on-year revenue growth is often seen at a healthy, growing business. Shareholders might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts.
Has SLM Corporation Been A Good Investment?
SLM Corporation has generated a total shareholder return of 23% over three years, so most shareholders would be reasonably content. But they probably don't want to see the CEO paid more than is normal for companies around the same size.
In Summary...
Ray Quinlan is paid around what is normal the leaders of comparable size companies.
We would wish for better returns (whether dividends or capital gains) but we do admire the solid EPS growth on show here. So considering these factors, we think the CEO pay is probably quite reasonable. Shareholders may want to check for free if SLM insiders are buying or selling shares.
Important note: SLM may not be the best stock to buy. You might find something better in this list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.
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.
