Legal & General Group Plc Purchases New Position in SLM Corporation $SLM

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc acquired 276,400 SLM shares worth approximately $7.17 million, taking a 0.15% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 98.94% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with five Buy, six Hold, and one Sell rating; the consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $29.80.
• SLM’s latest quarterly results fell short of expectations, with EPS of $0.29 versus $0.46 projected and revenue of $401.1 million. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.13, equivalent to a 2.0% annualized yield.

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 276,400 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,170,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.15% of SLM at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also 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 purchasing an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in SLM by 6.6% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 21,350 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 1,319 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of SLM by 6.1% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 36,889 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,210,000 after purchasing an additional 2,109 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in shares of SLM during the second quarter worth $55,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 26.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,579 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 2,417 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on SLM. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of SLM from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered SLM from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings raised SLM from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $26.00 price target (down from $30.00) on shares of SLM in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $28.00 price target on SLM in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $29.80.

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of SLM stock opened at $26.51 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.96. The stock's 50-day moving average is $26.03 and its 200-day moving average is $23.24. SLM Corporation has a one year low of $17.77 and a one year high of $32.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.32.

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

SLM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. SLM's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.53%.

About SLM

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.

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