Recent Investment Analysts’ Ratings Changes for SLM (SLM)

SLM (NASDAQ: SLM) has recently received a number of price target changes and ratings updates:

• 4/25/2024 – SLM had its price target raised by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $24.00 to $25.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 4/25/2024 – SLM had its price target raised by analysts at Wedbush from $26.00 to $28.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 4/25/2024 – SLM had its price target raised by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $22.00 to $23.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 4/18/2024 – SLM had its price target raised by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $22.00 to $24.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 4/3/2024 – SLM had its price target raised by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.

SLM Stock Down 0.2 %

SLM stock opened at $21.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $21.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.23. SLM Co. has a 52-week low of $12.26 and a 52-week high of $22.74. The firm has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.76, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.17.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $837.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $376.43 million. SLM had a net margin of 25.15% and a return on equity of 45.65%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 2.75 EPS for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.72, for a total transaction of $1,949,296.16. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,093,000.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,136,784 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $633,575,000 after buying an additional 1,151,557 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of SLM by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 11,786,932 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $225,574,000 after purchasing an additional 1,969,885 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of SLM by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,473,007 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $123,767,000 after purchasing an additional 170,764 shares during the last quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 9.1% in the third quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP now owns 4,282,732 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $58,331,000 after purchasing an additional 357,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in SLM by 967.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,923,491 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $39,818,000 after buying an additional 2,649,626 shares in the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SLM Corporation, through its subsidiaries, originates and services private education loans to students and their families to finance the cost of their education in the United States. It is also involved in the provision of retail deposit accounts, including certificates of deposit, money market accounts, and high-yield savings accounts; and interest-bearing omnibus accounts.