SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Should You Sell?

SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday. The company traded as low as $17.34 and last traded at $17.3130, with a volume of 633,058 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on SLM. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on SLM from $32.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on SLM from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered SLM from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Barclays dropped their price target on SLM from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded SLM from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, SLM has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.44.

SLM Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $22.95 and its 200 day moving average is $23.41. The company has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.35 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The credit services provider reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.36). SLM had a net margin of 20.43% and a return on equity of 26.34%. The business had revenue of $375.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $453.34 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 31.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that SLM Corporation will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 4th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.84%.

Institutional Trading of SLM

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of SLM in the second quarter worth approximately $455,576,000. PDT Partners LLC bought a new stake in SLM during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,261,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in SLM during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,236,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in SLM in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,184,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in SLM in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,268,000. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

About SLM

SLM Corp., commonly known as Sallie Mae, is a financial services company focused on helping students and families finance higher education. Its primary business is the origination and servicing of private education loans, which can help cover tuition, fees, books, housing and other eligible education-related expenses not fully covered by federal student aid.

The company offers private student loans for undergraduate and graduate education, as well as loans for career-training programs and other education needs.