SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $29.80.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SLM shares. Zacks Research cut SLM from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded SLM from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $28.00 target price on shares of SLM in a research note on Friday, July 24th.

Institutional Trading of SLM

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLM. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in SLM by 139.5% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 160,272 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,337,000 after acquiring an additional 93,364 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of SLM by 146.1% during the first quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 44,570 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $954,000 after acquiring an additional 26,460 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of SLM by 26.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,579 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 2,417 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 16.1% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 56,179 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,457,000 after purchasing an additional 7,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 118.2% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,995 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 2,164 shares in the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of SLM opened at $25.69 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.24. SLM has a 12 month low of $17.77 and a 12 month high of $33.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.94.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $401.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $409.22 million. SLM had a return on equity of 33.81% and a net margin of 26.09%.The business’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. SLM has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.200 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that SLM will post 3.12 EPS for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is 14.53%.

SLM Company Profile

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.