SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.11

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 23rd, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th will be given a dividend of 0.11 per share by the credit services provider on Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th.

SLM has raised its dividend by an average of 54.2% per year over the last three years. SLM has a dividend payout ratio of 15.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect SLM to earn $2.97 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 14.8%.

SLM Stock Up 0.6 %

SLM opened at $23.64 on Thursday. SLM has a twelve month low of $12.26 and a twelve month high of $23.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.67. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $21.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.75. The company has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a PE ratio of 7.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.17.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.32. SLM had a net margin of 25.15% and a return on equity of 45.65%. The firm had revenue of $783.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $368.97 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that SLM will post 2.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of SLM from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of SLM from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.50.

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.