Brokerages Set SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Target Price at $30.91

Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $30.91.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SLM. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Compass Point raised their target price on SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total transaction of $1,142,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 43,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,233,166.91. This trade represents a 48.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLM

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in SLM by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,923,576 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $158,342,000 after acquiring an additional 43,927 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLM in the third quarter valued at about $623,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of SLM in the third quarter valued at about $3,250,000. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP raised its position in shares of SLM by 62.9% during the 3rd quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 177,840 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,067,000 after purchasing an additional 68,642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in SLM in the 3rd quarter valued at about $268,000. 98.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SLM Price Performance

Shares of SLM opened at $30.59 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $28.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37. SLM has a twelve month low of $19.39 and a twelve month high of $32.65. The company has a market cap of $6.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.22.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a net margin of 20.73% and a return on equity of 31.66%. As a group, analysts predict that SLM will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. SLM’s payout ratio is 19.62%.

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.