SLM Co. Forecasted to Earn Q2 2024 Earnings of $0.44 Per Share (NASDAQ:SLM)

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) – Investment analysts at Wedbush dropped their Q2 2024 earnings per share estimates for SLM in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, April 25th. Wedbush analyst D. Chiaverini now anticipates that the credit services provider will earn $0.44 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.45. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for SLM’s current full-year earnings is $2.72 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for SLM’s Q3 2024 earnings at $0.49 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $0.45 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $2.66 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $1.25 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.48 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.59 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $0.58 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on SLM. Citigroup raised SLM from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of SLM from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. TheStreet raised shares of SLM from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of SLM in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on SLM from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.32.

SLM Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of SLM stock opened at $21.90 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.23. SLM has a 12-month low of $12.26 and a 12-month high of $22.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The company has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.84, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.16.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $837.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $376.43 million. SLM had a net margin of 25.15% and a return on equity of 47.72%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share.

Institutional Trading of SLM

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in SLM by 1,373.3% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of SLM by 81.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SLM in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC raised its holdings in SLM by 37.0% in the 1st quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 1,828 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the period. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in SLM during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In other SLM news, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,093,000.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other SLM news, EVP Donna F. Vieira sold 12,308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total value of $249,483.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,564,155. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was 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 owns 52,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,093,000.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.91% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

SLM announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $650.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to reacquire up to 14.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

SLM Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. SLM’s payout ratio is 13.75%.

SLM Company Profile

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.