Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Position in SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group has acquired 102,008 shares of SLM Corporation, valued at approximately $2.996 million, indicating significant investment interest in the company.
• Wall Street analysts have raised their price targets for SLM shares, with Barclays increasing it from $38.00 to $43.00, reflecting a strong consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" among analysts.
• SLM recently reported earnings of $0.32 per share for the quarter, missing consensus expectations, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share, representing an annual yield of 1.7%.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 102,008 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,996,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of SLM by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 324,714 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $9,537,000 after buying an additional 10,861 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors bought a new position in shares of SLM during the 1st quarter worth about $217,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of SLM during the 1st quarter worth about $2,229,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of SLM during the 1st quarter worth about $657,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of SLM by 12.9% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 57,003 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,674,000 after purchasing an additional 6,514 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SLM shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of SLM from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of SLM from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of SLM in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of SLM from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $29.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $35.00.

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of SLM stock traded up $0.10 on Thursday, hitting $31.94. The stock had a trading volume of 55,074 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,588,824. SLM Corporation has a twelve month low of $19.64 and a twelve month high of $34.97. The business's 50 day moving average is $32.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.02. The stock has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.13.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.17). SLM had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 15.46%. The business had revenue of $403.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $370.26 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. SLM's revenue for the quarter was down 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that SLM Corporation will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. SLM's payout ratio is presently 26.13%.

Insider Activity at SLM

In other news, EVP Kerri A. Palmer sold 55,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.21, for a total value of $1,771,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 119,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,841,139.13. The trade was a 31.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

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.