SLM Competitors

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) and American Express (NYSE:AXP) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

95.7% of SLM shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.5% of American Express shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of SLM shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of American Express shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

SLM has a beta of 1.4, indicating that its share price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Express has a beta of 1.36, indicating that its share price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares SLM and American Express' top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

American Express has higher revenue and earnings than SLM. SLM is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Express, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

SLM pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. American Express pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. SLM pays out 9.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American Express pays out 21.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. SLM has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and American Express has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares SLM and American Express' net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for SLM and American Express, as reported by MarketBeat.

SLM currently has a consensus target price of $16.4167, indicating a potential upside of 3.97%. American Express has a consensus target price of $119.20, indicating a potential downside of 11.87%. Given SLM's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe SLM is more favorable than American Express.

Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) and SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, earnings, dividends and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

89.6% of Capital One Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.7% of SLM shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Capital One Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of SLM shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Capital One Financial has a beta of 1.72, meaning that its stock price is 72% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SLM has a beta of 1.4, meaning that its stock price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Capital One Financial and SLM's gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Capital One Financial has higher revenue and earnings than SLM. Capital One Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SLM, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Capital One Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. SLM pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Capital One Financial pays out 13.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. SLM pays out 9.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Capital One Financial has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and SLM has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Capital One Financial and SLM's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Capital One Financial and SLM, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Capital One Financial currently has a consensus price target of $114.6667, indicating a potential downside of 4.60%. SLM has a consensus price target of $16.4167, indicating a potential upside of 3.97%. Given SLM's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe SLM is more favorable than Capital One Financial.

Summary

Capital One Financial beats SLM on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) and SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, earnings, dividends and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

84.7% of Discover Financial Services shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.7% of SLM shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Discover Financial Services shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of SLM shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Discover Financial Services has a beta of 1.8, meaning that its stock price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SLM has a beta of 1.4, meaning that its stock price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Discover Financial Services and SLM's gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Discover Financial Services has higher revenue and earnings than SLM. Discover Financial Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SLM, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Discover Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. SLM pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Discover Financial Services pays out 19.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. SLM pays out 9.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Discover Financial Services has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and SLM has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Discover Financial Services and SLM's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Discover Financial Services and SLM, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Discover Financial Services currently has a consensus price target of $85.1176, indicating a potential downside of 9.52%. SLM has a consensus price target of $16.4167, indicating a potential upside of 3.97%. Given SLM's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe SLM is more favorable than Discover Financial Services.

Credit Acceptance (NASDAQ:CACC) and SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, earnings, dividends and risk.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

71.4% of Credit Acceptance shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.7% of SLM shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.2% of Credit Acceptance shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of SLM shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Credit Acceptance has a beta of 1.22, indicating that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SLM has a beta of 1.4, indicating that its share price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Credit Acceptance and SLM's revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Credit Acceptance has higher earnings, but lower revenue than SLM. Credit Acceptance is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SLM, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Credit Acceptance and SLM's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Credit Acceptance and SLM, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Credit Acceptance currently has a consensus price target of $288.50, indicating a potential downside of 20.53%. SLM has a consensus price target of $16.4167, indicating a potential upside of 3.97%. Given SLM's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe SLM is more favorable than Credit Acceptance.

Summary

Credit Acceptance beats SLM on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) and SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, earnings, dividends and risk.

Dividends

Nelnet pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. SLM pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. SLM pays out 9.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Nelnet has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years and SLM has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Nelnet is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility & Risk

Nelnet has a beta of 0.7, meaning that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SLM has a beta of 1.4, meaning that its stock price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Nelnet and SLM, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Nelnet currently has a consensus price target of $75.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.31%. SLM has a consensus price target of $16.4167, indicating a potential upside of 3.97%. Given SLM's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe SLM is more favorable than Nelnet.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Nelnet and SLM's gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

SLM has higher revenue and earnings than Nelnet.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

34.7% of Nelnet shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.7% of SLM shares are held by institutional investors. 45.0% of Nelnet shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of SLM shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Nelnet and SLM's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Summary

SLM beats Nelnet on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) and Green Dot (NYSE:GDOT) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, risk and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

SLM has a beta of 1.4, indicating that its stock price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Green Dot has a beta of 0.95, indicating that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for SLM and Green Dot, as provided by MarketBeat.

SLM currently has a consensus price target of $16.4167, indicating a potential upside of 3.97%. Green Dot has a consensus price target of $54.8182, indicating a potential upside of ∞. Given Green Dot's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Green Dot is more favorable than SLM.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares SLM and Green Dot's revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

SLM has higher revenue and earnings than Green Dot. Green Dot is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SLM, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

95.7% of SLM shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.0% of Green Dot shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of SLM shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.8% of Green Dot shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares SLM and Green Dot's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Summary

SLM beats Green Dot on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.