SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Given Outperform Rating at Wedbush

Wedbush reiterated their outperform rating on shares of SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $26.00 price target on the credit services provider’s stock. Wedbush also issued estimates for SLM’s Q1 2025 earnings at $1.09 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.68 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $0.74 EPS.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of SLM in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research 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 for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.67.

SLM Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ SLM traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $22.50. 124,898 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,780,400. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66. The company has a market capitalization of $4.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $21.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.50. SLM has a 52-week low of $12.26 and a 52-week high of $23.95.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.30). SLM had a return on equity of 41.84% and a net margin of 24.67%. The firm had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that SLM will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This is an increase from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.75%.

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 Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total value of $102,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 101,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,294,811.10. This represents a 0.00 % 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 Investors Weigh In On SLM

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in SLM by 117.5% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 73,140 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,594,000 after purchasing an additional 39,519 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of SLM by 77.8% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 64,514 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,406,000 after buying an additional 28,236 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its stake in SLM by 50.7% during the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 290,636 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,042,000 after acquiring an additional 97,832 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in SLM by 3.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 816,274 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,788,000 after acquiring an additional 26,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shikiar Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in SLM by 19.5% in the second quarter. Shikiar Asset Management Inc. now owns 211,350 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,394,000 after acquiring an additional 34,550 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.