SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,330,000 shares, a drop of 14.7% from the September 30th total of 7,420,000 shares. Currently, 3.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,460,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.3 days.

Insider Activity at SLM

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total transaction of $102,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLM

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 3,800.6% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 2,344,691 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in SLM by 107.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,366,642 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $49,202,000 after buying an additional 1,224,015 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 253.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,290,997 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,840,000 after buying an additional 926,120 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of SLM by 23.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,453,521 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $92,589,000 after acquiring an additional 859,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its position in SLM by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,461,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $271,626,000 after acquiring an additional 674,424 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

SLM Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SLM traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,622,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,794,458. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.27. SLM has a fifty-two week low of $12.81 and a fifty-two week high of $23.95. The company has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.15.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.40 million. SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that SLM will post 2.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is a positive change from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is presently 16.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SLM shares. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on SLM in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.45.

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.