SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $29.80.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SLM shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of SLM in a report on Monday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of SLM from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $26.00 target price (down from $30.00) on shares of SLM in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th.

SLM Stock Performance

SLM stock opened at $24.99 on Friday. SLM has a 12-month low of $17.77 and a 12-month high of $31.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $26.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.56. The stock has a market cap of $4.70 billion, a PE ratio of 6.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.96.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $401.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $409.22 million. SLM had a return on equity of 33.81% and a net margin of 26.09%.The firm’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. SLM has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.200 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that SLM will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. SLM’s payout ratio is currently 14.53%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLM

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in SLM by 19.4% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in SLM by 202.3% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,116 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in SLM by 26.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,579 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 2,417 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in SLM during the second quarter worth about $77,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 738.9% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 4,077 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 3,591 shares in the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About SLM

SLM Corporation, commonly known as Sallie Mae, is a U.S.-based education finance company that provides private education loans to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as to parents and other borrowers. Its lending products are designed to help cover tuition, fees, housing, books and other qualified education expenses not fully met by federal financial aid or other funding sources.

Through Sallie Mae Bank, the company also offers consumer deposit products, including savings accounts, certificates of deposit and money market accounts.