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

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $24.00.

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on SLM from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Wedbush cut their target price on shares of SLM from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of SLM stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total value of $102,150.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 101,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,294,811.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLM

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SLM. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in SLM by 117.5% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 73,140 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,594,000 after buying an additional 39,519 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 19.6% in the first quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 594,514 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $12,954,000 after purchasing an additional 97,442 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in SLM by 59.0% during the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 593,201 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $12,926,000 after purchasing an additional 220,154 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in SLM by 77.8% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 64,514 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,406,000 after purchasing an additional 28,236 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its holdings in SLM by 50.7% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 290,636 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,042,000 after purchasing an additional 97,832 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SLM Stock Up 1.4 %

SLM stock opened at $22.56 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company’s 50-day moving average is $21.47 and its 200-day moving average is $21.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a PE ratio of 7.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.15. SLM has a fifty-two week low of $12.26 and a fifty-two week high of $23.95.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.32. SLM had a return on equity of 41.84% and a net margin of 24.67%. The firm had revenue of $783.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $368.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that SLM will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th were issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is 13.75%.

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.