SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Shares Purchased by Epacria Capital Partners LLC

Epacria Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 19.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,751 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,559 shares during the quarter. SLM makes up 0.8% of Epacria Capital Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Epacria Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in SLM were worth $1,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in SLM by 4.8% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,594 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $265,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,077 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 594 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 5.3% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 18,708 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 942 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of SLM by 9.9% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 11,017 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its stake in SLM by 12.3% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,368 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on SLM shares. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of SLM in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SLM presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.45.

SLM Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ SLM opened at $27.20 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $23.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.92. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $14.03 and a 12-month high of $28.22. The company has a market cap of $5.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.16.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its 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). The company had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.40 million. SLM had a net margin of 22.18% and a return on equity of 35.92%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.11 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that SLM Co. will post 2.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. 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 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is presently 15.33%.

SLM 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.