Analysts Set SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) Price Target at $29.80

SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.40.

SLM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered SLM from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on SLM from $32.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $28.00 target price on SLM in a report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded SLM from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $26.00 price target (down from $30.00) on shares of SLM in a report on Tuesday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SLM. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of SLM in the third quarter worth $69,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in SLM by 19.4% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in SLM by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,649 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 669 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of SLM in the 1st quarter valued at about $263,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of SLM by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 21,350 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $627,000 after acquiring an additional 1,319 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

SLM Price Performance

NASDAQ SLM opened at $25.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.59. The company has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a PE ratio of 6.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.94. SLM has a 52 week low of $17.77 and a 52 week high of $34.97. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.52.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $559.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $486.05 million. SLM had a net margin of 26.42% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. SLM has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.200 EPS. Research analysts predict that SLM will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.40%.

SLM Company Profile

SLM Corporation, operating as Sallie Mae Bank, is a leading U.S.-based consumer banking company specializing in education financing and related banking products. The company provides a range of private student loans for undergraduate and graduate studies, Parent PLUS loans, and specialized financing for career and certificate programs. In addition to its core lending services, Sallie Mae offers deposit products including savings accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and credit cards tailored to students and young adults.

Founded in 1972 as the Student Loan Marketing Association—a government-sponsored enterprise—Sallie Mae was privatized in 2004 and has since focused on expanding its private education loan offerings and digital banking solutions.