SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Rating Increased to Overweight at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research note published on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $38.00 target price on the credit services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $29.00.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $40.00 target price (up from $33.00) on shares of SLM in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SLM presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.40.

SLM Stock Down 0.9%

SLM stock opened at $33.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.01 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $32.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.02. SLM has a twelve month low of $19.39 and a twelve month high of $34.97.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $374.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $359.83 million. SLM had a net margin of 21.05% and a return on equity of 31.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.27 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that SLM will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total transaction of $93,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 35,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,096,324.25. This represents a 7.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SLM

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SLM. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of SLM during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new stake in shares of SLM during the 1st quarter worth $45,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 37.7% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 355.4% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,899 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 1,482 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of SLM during the 1st quarter worth $62,000. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.