SLM (SLM) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

SLM Corporation, commonly known as Sallie Mae, is a U.S.-based education finance company. Through Sallie Mae Bank, it primarily provides private student loans to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as loans for career training and other education-related expenses.

The company also offers consumer banking products, including savings accounts and certificates of deposit. Its services include supporting borrowers through loan application, repayment and customer service processes.

Founded in 1972 as the Student Loan Marketing Association, the organization was later privatized and became known as Sallie Mae. SLM’s lending and banking operations serve customers in the United States.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $16.62 to $17.12
• 50-Day Range: $16.59 to $27.08
• 52-Week Range: $16.54 to $31.06
• Volume: 434,264 shs
• Average Volume: 3.15 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $3.13 billion
• P/E Ratio: 6.21
• Dividend Yield: 3.04%
• Price Target: $26.44
• Consensus Rating: Hold

SLM Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

SLM scored higher than 93% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 139th out of 852 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 2.36, and is based on no strong buy ratings, 5 buy ratings, 5 hold ratings, and 1 sell rating.

Upside Potential

SLM has a consensus price target of $26.44, representing about 57.7% upside from its current price of $16.77.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

SLM has been the subject of 7 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 3.1 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 53.96%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for SLM are expected to grow by 53.96% in the coming year, from $2.02 to $3.11 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of SLM is 6.04, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 25.72.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of SLM is 6.04, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Finance sector average P/E ratio of about 19.46.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

SLM has a P/B Ratio of 1.53. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

9.29% 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 3.2, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in SLM has recently decreased by 3.69%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving.

Dividend

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Moderate

Dividend Yield

SLM pays a meaningful dividend of 3.08%, 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 18.84%. 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 16.72% next year. This indicates that SLM will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

News and Social Media

• Score: 1.6 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.61

News Sentiment

SLM has a news sentiment score of 0.61. 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 5 news articles for SLM this week, compared to 8 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 3 people have searched for SLM on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of 0% 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

• Record date for 9/15 Dividend: 9/04/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 9/15 Dividend: 9/04/2026
• Dividend Payable: 9/15/2026
• Last Earnings: 10/22/2026
• Today: 11/13/2026
• TD Cowen’s Financials & Fintech Conference: 11/17/2026
• Record date for 12/15 Dividend: 12/04/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 12/15 Dividend: 12/04/2026
• Dividend Payable: 12/15/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2026
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 1/28/2027

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: $26.44
• High Price Target: $40.00
• Low Price Target: $22.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +55.3%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.36
• Research Coverage: 11 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $2.76
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 6.15
• Forward P/E Ratio: 5.47
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $744.85 million
• Net Margins: 20.43%
• Pretax Margin: 26.57%
• Return on Equity: 26.34%
• Return on Assets: 1.93%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 2.76
• Current Ratio: 1.23
• Quick Ratio: 1.16

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $2.63 billion
• Price / Sales: 1.18
• Cash Flow: $3.91 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 4.35
• Book Value: $10.96 per share
• Price / Book: 1.55

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 182,820,000
• Free Float: 180,262,000
• Market Cap: $3.11 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 1.01