Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Positive Forecast for SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Stock Price

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) had its price target increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $30.00 to $32.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Compass Point upped their price objective on shares of SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SLM currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.82.

SLM Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of SLM stock opened at $29.01 on Friday. SLM has a fifty-two week low of $18.84 and a fifty-two week high of $31.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a PE ratio of 10.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.89.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. Equities analysts expect that SLM will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total value of $122,625.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 83,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,265,292.50. This trade represents a 5.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLM

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SLM. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of SLM by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,849 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in SLM by 4.8% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,594 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in SLM by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 33,825 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $933,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of SLM by 13.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,077 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of SLM by 5.3% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 18,708 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 942 shares during the period. 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.