GSA Capital Partners LLP Makes New $1.15 Million Investment in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 50,258 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,149,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SLM. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in SLM during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 358.7% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,399 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of SLM in the third quarter valued at $35,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in SLM in the second quarter valued at $60,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its position in SLM by 378.1% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,050 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 2,412 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on SLM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays dropped their price objective on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SLM presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.45.

SLM Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SLM opened at $24.02 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $22.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.67. SLM Co. has a 52-week low of $13.93 and a 52-week high of $24.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.30). The firm had revenue of $652.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.40 million. SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. This is an increase from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.12%.

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.