Wedbush Has Negative Estimate for SLM FY2024 Earnings

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) – Equities researchers at Wedbush decreased their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for SLM in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, November 5th. Wedbush analyst D. Chiaverini now forecasts that the credit services provider will earn $2.60 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $2.76. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for SLM’s current full-year earnings is $2.75 per share.

Several other research firms have also commented on SLM. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two research analysts have 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.45.

SLM Stock Up 11.9 %

NASDAQ:SLM opened at $24.48 on Wednesday. SLM has a 52 week low of $13.93 and a 52 week high of $24.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $22.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.16.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.40 million. SLM had a net margin of 22.18% and a return on equity of 35.92%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLM

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLM. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of SLM by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,461,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $271,626,000 after buying an additional 674,424 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in SLM by 2.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,687,920 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $118,248,000 after acquiring an additional 119,342 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in SLM by 23.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,453,521 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $92,589,000 after acquiring an additional 859,625 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in SLM by 3,800.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,406,384 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $55,034,000 after acquiring an additional 2,344,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 107.1% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,366,642 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $49,202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224,015 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SLM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is a boost 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 yield of 2.12%. SLM’s payout ratio is presently 15.33%.

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.