JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Price Target to $25.00

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) had its price target hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $23.00 to $25.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on SLM. TD Cowen boosted their target price on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on SLM from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SLM currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $23.73.

SLM Price Performance

NASDAQ:SLM opened at $23.00 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.76. The firm has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.23. SLM has a 52 week low of $12.26 and a 52 week high of $23.95.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $783.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $368.97 million. SLM had a return on equity of 44.03% and a net margin of 24.67%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that SLM will post 2.78 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.75%.

Institutional Trading of SLM

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in SLM during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,108,000. Boston Partners raised its stake in SLM by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 11,786,932 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $225,574,000 after buying an additional 1,969,885 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in SLM by 186.3% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,517,251 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $54,851,000 after buying an additional 1,638,003 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in SLM by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,136,784 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $633,575,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in SLM by 6,779.4% during the 1st quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 894,116 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $19,483,000 after acquiring an additional 881,119 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.