SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Receives $27.27 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $27.27.

SLM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays decreased their target price on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target (up previously from $27.00) on shares of SLM in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th.

Insider Activity

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total value of $122,625.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 83,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,265,292.50. This represents a 5.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SLM

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

SLM Stock Performance

NASDAQ SLM opened at $27.92 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $26.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. SLM has a twelve month low of $18.04 and a twelve month high of $28.91. The company has a market capitalization of $5.93 billion, a PE ratio of 9.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.21.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced 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). SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. The company had revenue of $652.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that SLM will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. This is a positive change from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. SLM’s payout ratio is currently 18.12%.

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.