SLM (SLM) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

SLM Corp., operating under the Sallie Mae brand, is a financial services company focused on education financing. It primarily provides private student loans to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as education loans for parents and other creditworthy borrowers. Sallie Mae also offers related products and resources designed to help families plan and pay for college.

The company’s private education loans can be used for eligible expenses such as tuition, fees, books, supplies, and living costs. Sallie Mae markets its products directly to students and families and works with colleges and universities across the United States. Its services are generally focused on the U.S. higher education market.

SLM was established in 1972 as the Student Loan Marketing Association, commonly known as Sallie Mae, and initially supported the federal student loan system. The company was fully privatized in the 2000s and adopted SLM Corporation as its corporate name while retaining Sallie Mae as its primary consumer-facing brand. The company is headquartered in Newark, Delaware.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $22.54 to $22.94
• 50-Day Range: $22.61 to $28.03
• 52-Week Range: $17.77 to $31.06
• Volume: 3.67 million shs
• Average Volume: 2.05 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $4.28 billion
• P/E Ratio: 6.35
• Dividend Yield: 2.29%
• Price Target: $29.80
• Consensus Rating: Hold

SLM Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

SLM scored higher than 80% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 296th out of 839 stocks in the finance sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 4.2 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Hold

Consensus Rating

SLM has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.33, and is based on no strong buy ratings, 5 buy ratings, 6 hold ratings, and 1 sell rating.

Upside Potential

SLM has a consensus price target of $29.80, representing about 31.0% upside from its current price of $22.75.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

SLM has been the subject of 5 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 8.97%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for SLM are expected to grow by 8.97% in the coming year, from $3.12 to $3.40 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of SLM is 6.35, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 42.26.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of SLM is 6.35, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Finance sector average P/E ratio of about 22.67.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

SLM has a PEG Ratio of 1.98. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

SLM has a P/B Ratio of 2.10. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 0.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Bearish

Percentage of Shares Shorted

9.68% of the float of SLM has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

SLM has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 11.48, which indicates bearish sentiment.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in SLM has recently increased by 2.89%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing.

Dividend

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Moderate

Dividend Yield

SLM pays a meaningful dividend of 2.29%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

SLM has only been increasing its dividend for 1 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of SLM is 14.53%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, SLM will have a dividend payout ratio of 15.29% next year. This indicates that SLM will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.2 / 5
• News Sentiment: N/A

News Sentiment

SLM has a news sentiment score of 0.55. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This news sentiment score is similar to the average news sentiment of Finance companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 1 news article for SLM this week, compared to 8 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

7 people have searched for SLM on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 600% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 0.8 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, SLM insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

1.40% of the stock of SLM is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

98.94% of the stock of SLM is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 7/23/2026
• Record date for 9/15 Dividend: 9/04/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 9/15 Dividend: 9/04/2026
• Dividend Payable: 9/15/2026
• Today: 10/04/2026
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 10/22/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2026

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Finance
• Industry: Consumer Finance
• Sub-Industry: Consumer Finance
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:SLM
• CIK: 1032033
• Web: www.salliemae.com
• Phone: (302) 283-8000
• Fax: 800-848-1949
• Employees: 1,788
• Year Founded: 1972

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for SLM: $29.80
• High Price Target: $40.00
• Low Price Target: $22.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +31.0%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.33
• Research Coverage: 12 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $3.58
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 6.35
• Forward P/E Ratio: 7.29
• P/E Growth: 1.98
• Net Income: $744.85 million
• Net Margins: 26.09%
• Pretax Margin: 34.86%
• Return on Equity: 33.81%
• Return on Assets: 2.51%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 2.63
• Current Ratio: 1.33
• Quick Ratio: 1.32

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $2.63 billion
• Price / Sales: 1.63
• Cash Flow: $3.89 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 5.85
• Book Value: $10.84 per share
• Price / Book: 2.10

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 187,950,000
• Free Float: 185,316,000
• Market Cap: $4.28 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.96