SLM Co. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.13 (NASDAQ:SLM)

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 22nd,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of 0.13 per share by the credit services provider on Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%.

SLM has increased its dividend payment by an average of 32.0% per year over the last three years. SLM has a dividend payout ratio of 15.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect SLM to earn $3.10 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.8%.

SLM Stock Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ SLM traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $29.08. 3,093,366 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,620,174. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. SLM has a 1-year low of $18.84 and a 1-year high of $29.20. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.75. The company has a market cap of $6.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.21.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly 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). SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. The company had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that SLM will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on SLM. Bank of America initiated coverage on SLM in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target (up from $27.00) on shares of SLM in a report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

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