Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC Cuts Holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lowered its position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 457,511 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 23,071 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC owned about 0.22% of SLM worth $10,463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in SLM by 3,800.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,406,384 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $55,034,000 after acquiring an additional 2,344,691 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised 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 worth $49,202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224,015 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 926,120 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in SLM by 23.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,453,521 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $92,589,000 after buying an additional 859,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake in SLM by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,461,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $271,626,000 after buying an additional 674,424 shares in the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SLM Stock Performance

NASDAQ SLM opened at $24.86 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a PE ratio of 8.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.16. SLM Co. has a twelve month low of $13.93 and a twelve month high of $25.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.27 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.30). SLM had a net margin of 22.18% and a return on equity of 35.92%. The company had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.40 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that SLM Co. will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This is a boost from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. SLM’s payout ratio is presently 18.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SLM shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of SLM in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. 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. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.45.

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.