Analysts Set SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Target Price at $25.45

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $25.45.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SLM shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th.

SLM Stock Performance

NASDAQ SLM opened at $24.20 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.43, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.16. SLM has a twelve month low of $13.93 and a twelve month high of $24.59. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.72. 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 analyst estimates of $363.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that SLM will post 2.73 EPS for the current year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This is a boost from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.33%.

Institutional Trading of SLM

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of SLM by 5.7% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,461,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $271,626,000 after acquiring an additional 674,424 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,923,576 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $158,342,000 after purchasing an additional 43,927 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in SLM by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,687,920 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $118,248,000 after purchasing an additional 119,342 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 worth $108,936,000 after purchasing an additional 331,490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in SLM by 23.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,453,521 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $92,589,000 after buying an additional 859,625 shares during the period. 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.