SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the ten research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $32.30.

SLM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. 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 report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on SLM from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $40.00 target price (up from $33.00) on shares of SLM in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th.

Insider Activity at SLM

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 3,000 shares of the company'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 represents a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLM

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in SLM by 1.1% during the first quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 36,509 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of SLM by 1.8% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 24,657 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $724,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of SLM by 86.4% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 971 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of SLM by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,935 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of SLM by 6.4% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 7,800 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SLM Stock Up 1.3%

SLM stock opened at $32.12 on Wednesday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $31.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market cap of $6.74 billion, a PE ratio of 11.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.10. SLM has a 1-year low of $19.39 and a 1-year high of $34.55.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $374.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $359.83 million. SLM had a return on equity of 31.25% and a net margin of 21.05%. SLM's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that SLM will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. SLM's payout ratio is currently 18.71%.

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.

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