SLM’s (SLM) “Market Perform” Rating Reiterated at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $30.00 price objective on the credit services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $27.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 12.91% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America began coverage on shares of SLM in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price for the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SLM presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.73.

SLM Stock Performance

SLM stock opened at $26.57 on Monday. SLM has a 12-month low of $15.95 and a 12-month high of $28.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $23.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.21.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.40 million. SLM had a net margin of 22.18% and a return on equity of 35.92%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that SLM will post 2.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total transaction of $122,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 83,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,265,292.50. This represents a 5.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLM

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in SLM during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of SLM in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 358.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,399 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,094 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in SLM during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of SLM in the second quarter worth about $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

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.