SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $28.99 and last traded at $28.79, with a volume of 157370 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $28.57.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays decreased their price target on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $30.00 price target (up from $27.00) on shares of SLM in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on SLM from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on SLM in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SLM presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.90.

SLM Stock Up 1.4 %

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 cap of $6.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.75.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.30). SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. The business had revenue of $652.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that SLM Co. will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of SLM stock in a transaction 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 owns 83,130 shares in the company, valued at $2,265,292.50. This trade represents a 5.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 3,800.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,406,384 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $55,034,000 after acquiring an additional 2,344,691 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of SLM by 107.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,366,642 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $49,202,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,015 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of SLM by 253.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,290,997 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,840,000 after acquiring an additional 926,120 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of SLM by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,762,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $108,936,000 after acquiring an additional 331,490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. purchased a new stake in SLM in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,046,000. 98.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.