SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Stock Gets Price Target Trim from TD Cowen

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) had its price target reduced by TD Cowen from $32.00 to $27.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on SLM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on SLM from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of SLM from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of SLM in a report on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of SLM from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SLM presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.44.

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SLM opened at $19.42 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.96. SLM has a 52 week low of $17.77 and a 52 week high of $31.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $24.46 and a 200 day moving average of $24.01.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The credit services provider reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.36). SLM had a net margin of 20.43% and a return on equity of 26.34%. The company had revenue of $375.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $453.34 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 31.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that SLM will post 2.00 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. SLM’s payout ratio is currently 18.84%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLM

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of SLM during the 2nd quarter valued at $455,576,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new position in SLM during the 2nd quarter worth $169,136,000. Azora Capital LP purchased a new position in SLM during the 2nd quarter worth $97,917,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in SLM during the 2nd quarter worth $39,251,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in SLM during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,268,000. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting SLM

Here are the key news stories impacting SLM this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Private education loan originations rose 15% year over year to a record $3.4 billion, while graduate-loan originations increased 119%. SLM also repurchased 5.1 million shares for $132.2 million, supporting per-share value over the longer term. Sallie Mae Reports Third-Quarter Results
• Positive Sentiment: Sixth Street committed to purchase approximately $1.5 billion of student loans annually, potentially expanding SLM’s funding and loan-origination capacity. SLM: Three Key Takeaways
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley, RBC, and TD Cowen lowered their price targets to $26, $26, and $27, respectively, but retained positive ratings ranging from overweight to buy. The revisions indicate reduced near-term expectations while implying substantial potential upside from recent levels.
• Negative Sentiment: SLM reported a $35.9 million net loss attributable to common stock, or $0.19 per share, compared with $0.63 of earnings a year earlier. Revenue fell 31.3% year over year to approximately $375.5 million, below the $453.3 million consensus estimate. SLM Quarterly Earnings Results
• Negative Sentiment: Management cut 2026 diluted EPS guidance to $1.95–$2.05 from $3.10–$3.20 and raised expected full-year net charge-offs to $400–$420 million. Third-quarter charge-offs reached about $90 million, reflecting increased defaults tied partly to third-party debt-resolution practices.
• Negative Sentiment: Credit-loss provisions totaled $213.7 million and non-interest expenses rose to roughly $220.7 million as SLM spent more to capture seasonal loan demand. These higher costs overwhelmed the strong origination growth and are the primary reasons investors have sold the stock. Sallie Mae Cuts Full-Year View

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.