Royal Bank of Canada Raises SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Price Target to $25.00

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) had its price objective boosted by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $24.00 to $25.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective points to a potential upside of 14.52% from the stock’s current price.

SLM has been the topic of several other research reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of SLM from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of SLM from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup upgraded shares of SLM from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of SLM from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of SLM in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.32.

SLM Price Performance

NASDAQ SLM traded down $0.27 on Thursday, hitting $21.83. The stock had a trading volume of 1,797,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,141,462. SLM has a 52-week low of $12.26 and a 52-week high of $22.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22. The company has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.87 and a 200-day moving average of $18.14.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $837.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $376.43 million. SLM had a net margin of 20.65% and a return on equity of 36.86%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. Equities analysts expect that SLM will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

SLM announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $650.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to reacquire up to 14.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Donna F. Vieira sold 12,308 shares of SLM stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total transaction of $249,483.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 126,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,564,155. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other SLM news, EVP Donna F. Vieira sold 12,308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total value of $249,483.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 126,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,564,155. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.72, for a total transaction of $1,949,296.16. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,093,000.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLM

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in SLM by 81.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in SLM in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 1,373.3% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of SLM in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,330 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.