SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $26.80.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America began coverage on SLM in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $30.00 target price (up from $27.00) on shares of SLM in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th.

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of SLM stock opened at $27.18 on Friday. SLM has a 52 week low of $17.94 and a 52 week high of $28.22. The company has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of 9.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $24.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.30). SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. The company had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that SLM will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. This is an increase from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total transaction of $122,625.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 83,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,265,292.50. The trade was a 5.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SLM. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,923,576 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $158,342,000 after buying an additional 43,927 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in SLM by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,687,920 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $118,248,000 after purchasing an additional 119,342 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of SLM by 7.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,762,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $108,936,000 after purchasing an additional 331,490 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of SLM by 23.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,453,521 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $92,589,000 after purchasing an additional 859,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 3,800.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,406,384 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $55,034,000 after purchasing an additional 2,344,691 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

SLM Company Profile

SLM Corporation, through its subsidiaries, originates and services private education loans to students and their families to finance the cost of their education in the United States. It is also involved in the provision of retail deposit accounts, including certificates of deposit, money market accounts, and high-yield savings accounts; and interest-bearing omnibus accounts.