SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.32.

SLM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on SLM from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush increased their target price on SLM from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on SLM in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Citigroup upgraded SLM from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $14.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded SLM from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Donna F. Vieira sold 12,308 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total transaction of $249,483.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 126,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,564,155. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Donna F. Vieira sold 12,308 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total transaction of $249,483.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 126,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,564,155. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of the firm’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 value 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. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLM

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in SLM during the 4th quarter valued at $1,785,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in SLM during the 3rd quarter valued at $713,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in SLM by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 10,266 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in SLM by 25.5% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 155,595 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,092,000 after purchasing an additional 31,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in SLM by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 684,103 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,317,000 after purchasing an additional 162,853 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SLM opened at $21.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.17. SLM has a 52 week low of $12.26 and a 52 week high of $22.37.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 36.86% and a net margin of 20.65%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that SLM will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 24th that permits the company to repurchase $650.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to buy up to 14.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

SLM Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.33%.

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.