SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Earns Outperform Rating from Wedbush

Wedbush reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Wedbush currently has a $26.00 price target on the credit services provider’s stock. Wedbush also issued estimates for SLM’s Q1 2025 earnings at $1.09 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.68 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $0.74 EPS.

SLM has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.67.

SLM Price Performance

NASDAQ:SLM opened at $21.90 on Thursday. SLM has a 52 week low of $12.26 and a 52 week high of $23.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.50. The firm has a market cap of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.15.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $652.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.40 million. SLM had a return on equity of 41.84% and a net margin of 24.67%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that SLM will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is an increase from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of SLM stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total transaction of $102,150.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 101,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,294,811.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLM

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SLM. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in SLM by 1,373.3% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of SLM during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 358.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,399 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,094 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in SLM in the second quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in SLM by 378.1% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,050 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,412 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

About SLM

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.