JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Stock Price

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) had its price objective reduced by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $25.00 to $22.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underweight” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would indicate a potential downside of 3.08% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $28.00 price target on SLM in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered SLM from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on SLM from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on SLM from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $26.00 target price (down from $30.00) on shares of SLM in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.40.

SLM Stock Down 1.0%

SLM opened at $22.70 on Monday. SLM has a fifty-two week low of $17.77 and a fifty-two week high of $31.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.33. The company has a fifty day moving average of $25.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.34, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.96.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.17). SLM had a return on equity of 33.81% and a net margin of 26.09%. The firm had revenue of $401.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $409.22 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. SLM has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.200 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that SLM will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLM

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in SLM during the second quarter worth $455,576,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLM in the 2nd quarter worth $169,136,000. Azora Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of SLM in the 2nd quarter worth $97,917,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of SLM during the 2nd quarter worth $39,251,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of SLM during the 2nd quarter worth $37,268,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

About SLM

SLM Corp., operating under the Sallie Mae brand, is a financial services company focused on education financing. It primarily provides private student loans to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as education loans for parents and other creditworthy borrowers. Sallie Mae also offers related products and resources designed to help families plan and pay for college.

The company’s private education loans can be used for eligible expenses such as tuition, fees, books, supplies, and living costs.