Edgestream Partners L.P. Invests $3.25 Million in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 142,122 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,250,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SLM. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in SLM by 4.8% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,594 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of SLM by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,077 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 594 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its position in SLM by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 18,708 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $428,000 after acquiring an additional 942 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in SLM by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,368 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in SLM by 358.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,399 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,094 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on SLM. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America started coverage on SLM in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.45.

SLM Price Performance

Shares of SLM opened at $27.38 on Monday. SLM Co. has a 52 week low of $14.64 and a 52 week high of $28.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The firm has a market cap of $5.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.54, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.46 and a 200-day moving average of $22.01.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its earnings results 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). SLM had a net margin of 22.18% and a return on equity of 35.92%. The business had revenue of $652.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 2.73 EPS for the current year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. This is a boost from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.