Wall Street Zen lowered shares of SLM (NASDAQ:SLM – Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Saturday morning.
Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on SLM. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $28.00 price objective on SLM in a report on Friday. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $26.00 target price (down from $30.00) on shares of SLM in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Compass Point raised SLM from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised SLM from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.80.
Check Out Our Latest Report on SLM
SLM Stock Performance
SLM (NASDAQ:SLM – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.17). SLM had a return on equity of 33.81% and a net margin of 26.09%.The firm had revenue of $401.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $409.22 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. SLM has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.200 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that SLM will post 3.12 EPS for the current year.
SLM Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.53%.
Institutional Trading of SLM
Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in SLM by 139.5% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 160,272 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,337,000 after buying an additional 93,364 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP lifted its position in shares of SLM by 616.6% during the 3rd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 109,485 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,031,000 after acquiring an additional 94,207 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of SLM by 26.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,579 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 2,417 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 16.1% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 56,179 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,457,000 after acquiring an additional 7,800 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.
About SLM
SLM Corporation, operating as Sallie Mae Bank, is a leading U.S.-based consumer banking company specializing in education financing and related banking products. The company provides a range of private student loans for undergraduate and graduate studies, Parent PLUS loans, and specialized financing for career and certificate programs. In addition to its core lending services, Sallie Mae offers deposit products including savings accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and credit cards tailored to students and young adults.
Founded in 1972 as the Student Loan Marketing Association—a government-sponsored enterprise—Sallie Mae was privatized in 2004 and has since focused on expanding its private education loan offerings and digital banking solutions.
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