Wedbush Reiterates Outperform Rating for SLM (NASDAQ:SLM)

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Wedbush in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $26.00 price objective on the credit services provider’s stock. Wedbush’s target price suggests a potential upside of 17.59% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on SLM. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of SLM in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, SLM currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.75.

SLM Stock Performance

NASDAQ SLM traded down $0.69 on Thursday, reaching $22.11. 241,992 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,766,392. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a PE ratio of 6.89, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.15. SLM has a one year low of $12.26 and a one year high of $23.95. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced 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 net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 41.84%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. Analysts expect that SLM will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total value of $102,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 101,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,294,811.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLM

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners grew its position in SLM by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,461,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $271,626,000 after buying an additional 674,424 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in SLM by 2.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,687,920 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $118,248,000 after purchasing an additional 119,342 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in SLM by 23.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,453,521 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $92,589,000 after purchasing an additional 859,625 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in SLM by 3,800.6% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 2,344,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of SLM by 107.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,224,015 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

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.