SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) Receives $29.80 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $29.80.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SLM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on SLM from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of SLM from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of SLM from $32.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $28.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $27.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research report on Friday, April 24th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLM

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of SLM by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 21,350 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $627,000 after buying an additional 1,319 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of SLM in the 1st quarter valued at $263,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of SLM by 33.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 547,724 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $16,087,000 after buying an additional 137,285 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in SLM by 118.2% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,995 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $131,000 after acquiring an additional 2,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in SLM by 6.1% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 36,889 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,210,000 after acquiring an additional 2,109 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SLM Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of SLM opened at $22.55 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. SLM has a 1 year low of $17.77 and a 1 year high of $34.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a PE ratio of 6.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.98.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.40. SLM had a net margin of 26.42% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The company had revenue of $559.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $486.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. SLM has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.200 EPS. Analysts forecast that SLM will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. SLM’s payout ratio is 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.