Royal Bank of Canada Increases SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Price Target to $27.00

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) had its price target boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from $25.00 to $27.00 in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on SLM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on SLM from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on SLM from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush raised their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $24.00.

SLM Trading Down 1.2 %

SLM stock opened at $22.73 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.83. SLM has a 12 month low of $12.26 and a 12 month high of $23.95. The company has a market capitalization of $4.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.17.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.32. SLM had a return on equity of 41.84% and a net margin of 24.67%. The firm had revenue of $783.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $368.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that SLM will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLM

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of SLM during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,785,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 117.5% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 73,140 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,594,000 after acquiring an additional 39,519 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 594,514 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $12,954,000 after acquiring an additional 97,442 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 59.0% during the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 593,201 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $12,926,000 after acquiring an additional 220,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 77.8% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 64,514 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,406,000 after acquiring an additional 28,236 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.