SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) to Post Q1 2025 Earnings of $1.30 Per Share, Wedbush Forecasts

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at Wedbush issued their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of SLM in a report issued on Wednesday, March 27th. Wedbush analyst D. Chiaverini forecasts that the credit services provider will earn $1.30 per share for the quarter. Wedbush has a "Outperform" rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for SLM's current full-year earnings is $2.66 per share.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $725.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $379.20 million. SLM had a return on equity of 36.86% and a net margin of 20.65%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.33) EPS.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Stephens upped their target price on SLM from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. TheStreet raised SLM from a "c+" rating to a "b" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup raised SLM from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $14.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $20.00 target price (up from $18.00) on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised SLM from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $14.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, December 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $19.77.

SLM Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ SLM traded up $0.19 on Friday, reaching $21.79. The company had a trading volume of 2,363,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,644,334. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.16. SLM has a 1 year low of $11.61 and a 1 year high of $21.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.32 and a 200-day moving average of $17.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

Institutional Trading of SLM

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in SLM by 967.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,923,491 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $39,818,000 after purchasing an additional 2,649,626 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in SLM during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,054,000. Boston Partners lifted its stake in SLM by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 11,786,932 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $225,574,000 after purchasing an additional 1,969,885 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in SLM by 53.0% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,530,000 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $83,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,570,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in SLM by 1,097.1% during the first quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,524,886 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $18,892,000 after purchasing an additional 1,397,503 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SLM news, EVP Donna F. Vieira sold 12,308 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total value of $249,483.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,564,155. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.72, for a total value of $1,949,296.16. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,093,000.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Donna F. Vieira sold 12,308 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total transaction of $249,483.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,564,155. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.91% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

SLM announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 24th that allows the company to buyback $650.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to purchase up to 14.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

SLM Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. SLM's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.33%.

About SLM

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.