SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Share Price Crosses Above 50 Day Moving Average Following Analyst Downgrade

SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) passed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Wednesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $21.78 and traded as high as $22.44. SLM shares last traded at $21.88, with a volume of 1,430,890 shares trading hands.

SLM has been the topic of several other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $28.00 target price on SLM in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on SLM from $32.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on SLM from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $27.00 price target on SLM in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on SLM from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SLM presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLM. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in SLM by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in SLM by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,649 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 669 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in SLM by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 8,315 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 853 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in SLM by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 21,350 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $627,000 after purchasing an additional 1,319 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in SLM by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 36,889 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,210,000 after purchasing an additional 2,109 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

SLM Trading Up 1.1%

The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.59. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.01.

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

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.