Steamboat Capital Partners LLC Invests $1.37 Million in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Steamboat Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 49,808 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,374,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SLM. Amundi lifted its position in shares of SLM by 103.4% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 135,014 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,712,000 after acquiring an additional 68,632 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in SLM by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 223,692 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $6,169,000 after buying an additional 18,754 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in SLM by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,246,797 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $338,889,000 after buying an additional 456,415 shares in the last quarter. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT purchased a new position in SLM during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,775,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 107,126 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 22,388 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on SLM. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point lifted their price objective on SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on SLM from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total transaction of $93,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,195 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,324.25. This trade represents a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

SLM Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of SLM stock traded down $0.81 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $32.79. 1,181,988 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,250,961. SLM Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.39 and a fifty-two week high of $33.94. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37. The stock has a market cap of $6.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $374.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $359.83 million. SLM had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. Equities analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. SLM's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.71%.

SLM 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.