Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lowered its position in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 4.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 457,511 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 23,071 shares during the quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC’s holdings in SLM were worth $10,463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of SLM in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in SLM by 358.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,399 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,094 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in SLM in the third quarter valued at $35,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLM during the second quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 378.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,050 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,412 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

SLM Trading Up 3.7 %

NASDAQ:SLM opened at $24.86 on Friday. SLM Co. has a 1 year low of $13.93 and a 1 year high of $25.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $22.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.66, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.16.

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

SLM Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is a positive change from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. SLM’s payout ratio is 18.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on 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 initiated coverage on shares of SLM in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.45.

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.