Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Acquires New Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 373,047 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,133,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned 0.16% of SLM as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SLM. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in SLM by 81.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,328 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in SLM during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in SLM by 46.4% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,330 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 739 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of SLM in the fourth quarter worth $76,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of SLM by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 7,891 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on SLM. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on SLM from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. TheStreet raised shares of SLM from a "c+" rating to a "b" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded SLM from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $14.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $21.32.

SLM Stock Performance

SLM stock traded up $0.53 on Friday, hitting $22.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,211,396 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,376,093. SLM Co. has a 1 year low of $12.26 and a 1 year high of $22.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.67. The stock has a market cap of $4.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $21.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.55.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.18. SLM had a return on equity of 45.65% and a net margin of 25.15%. The business had revenue of $837.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $376.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 2.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. SLM's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.75%.

SLM declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $650.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to repurchase up to 14.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of SLM stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.72, for a total value of $1,949,296.16. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,751 shares in the company, valued at $1,093,000.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.