SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $29.50.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SLM. Zacks Research lowered SLM from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Compass Point upgraded SLM from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, March 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of SLM from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $27.00 target price on shares of SLM in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $26.00 price target (down from $30.00) on shares of SLM in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th.

Institutional Trading of SLM

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SLM. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in SLM by 19.4% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of SLM during the 3rd quarter worth $69,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,649 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $207,000 after buying an additional 669 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of SLM in the 1st quarter worth about $263,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in SLM by 6.6% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 21,350 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $627,000 after buying an additional 1,319 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SLM Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:SLM traded up $0.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $24.96. 3,502,001 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,942,753. SLM has a 1-year low of $17.77 and a 1-year high of $33.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $22.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.59, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.94.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.40. SLM had a net margin of 26.42% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The firm had revenue of $559.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $486.05 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. SLM has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.200 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that SLM will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.40%.

About SLM

SLM Corporation, operating as Sallie Mae Bank, is a leading U.S.-based consumer banking company specializing in education financing and related banking products. The company provides a range of private student loans for undergraduate and graduate studies, Parent PLUS loans, and specialized financing for career and certificate programs. In addition to its core lending services, Sallie Mae offers deposit products including savings accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and credit cards tailored to students and young adults.

Founded in 1972 as the Student Loan Marketing Association—a government-sponsored enterprise—Sallie Mae was privatized in 2004 and has since focused on expanding its private education loan offerings and digital banking solutions.