Bank of America Initiates Coverage on SLM (NASDAQ:SLM)

Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) in a research report report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $27.00 price target on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on SLM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of SLM from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Wedbush decreased their price objective on SLM from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen upped their price target on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $24.00.

SLM Stock Up 1.4 %

SLM opened at $22.56 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. SLM has a fifty-two week low of $12.26 and a fifty-two week high of $23.95. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $21.47 and its 200 day moving average is $21.28. The stock has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.15.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.32. SLM had a return on equity of 41.84% and a net margin of 24.67%. The company had revenue of $783.28 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $368.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that SLM will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total value of $102,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 101,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,294,811.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLM

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,136,784 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $633,575,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,557 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its position in SLM by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,461,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $271,626,000 after purchasing an additional 674,424 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of SLM by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,687,920 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $118,248,000 after purchasing an additional 119,342 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in SLM by 23.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,453,521 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $92,589,000 after buying an additional 859,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in SLM by 107.1% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,366,642 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $49,202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224,015 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

SLM Company Profile

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.