Wedbush Weighs in on SLM’s Q3 Earnings (NASDAQ:SLM)

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) – Stock analysts at Wedbush upped their Q3 2025 earnings estimates for SLM in a research report issued on Monday, November 25th. Wedbush analyst D. Chiaverini now forecasts that the credit services provider will post earnings of $0.74 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $0.68. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for SLM’s current full-year earnings is $2.73 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for SLM’s FY2025 earnings at $3.15 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $3.80 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays cut their price target on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on SLM in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SLM presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.45.

SLM Trading Up 2.8 %

SLM stock opened at $27.88 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a PE ratio of 9.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.16. SLM has a 12 month low of $14.03 and a 12 month high of $28.22. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.85. 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 (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.40 million. SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLM. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 4.8% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,594 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in SLM by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,077 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 594 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 942 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of SLM by 9.9% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 11,017 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of SLM by 12.3% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,368 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

SLM Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. This is a boost from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is presently 15.33%.

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.