Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM – Get Rating) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the ten ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $18.89.
Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup cut shares of SLM from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $18.00 to $17.00 in a report on Thursday, October 13th. Compass Point cut shares of SLM from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $20.00 to $18.00 in a report on Thursday, November 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $20.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of SLM in a report on Friday, October 7th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $15.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of SLM in a report on Wednesday, October 12th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock.
SLM Price Performance
SLM opened at $16.79 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $15.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.23. SLM has a 52-week low of $13.72 and a 52-week high of $20.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.19. The company has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 1.20.
SLM (NASDAQ:SLM – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 26th. The credit services provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.18). SLM had a return on equity of 47.71% and a net margin of 35.01%. The firm had revenue of $369.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $347.69 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.24 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that SLM will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current year.
SLM Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 1st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.33%.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLM
Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SLM. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of SLM during the third quarter worth about $66,000. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in SLM by 77.7% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 3,678 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 1,608 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in SLM by 40.9% in the 2nd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,501 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 1,597 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in SLM by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 6,711 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 1,226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in SLM by 1,958.3% in the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 7,204 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $132,000 after buying an additional 6,854 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.89% of the company’s stock.
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 also offers retail deposit accounts, including certificates of deposit, money market deposit accounts, and high-yield savings accounts; and omnibus accounts, as well as credit card loans.
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