Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Stock

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) had its target price raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $30.00 to $32.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on SLM. Compass Point increased their price target on shares of SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on SLM from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.82.

SLM Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ SLM opened at $29.01 on Friday. SLM has a 52 week low of $18.84 and a 52 week high of $31.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $27.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a PE ratio of 10.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.21.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. As a group, research analysts expect that SLM will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. SLM’s payout ratio is currently 18.12%.

Insider Activity

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of SLM stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total value of $122,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 83,130 shares in the company, valued at $2,265,292.50. The trade was a 5.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SLM

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in SLM by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,923,576 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $158,342,000 after buying an additional 43,927 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SLM during the third quarter worth $623,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in SLM during the third quarter valued at $3,250,000. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP grew its stake in SLM by 62.9% in the third quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 177,840 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,067,000 after purchasing an additional 68,642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in SLM in the 3rd quarter worth about $268,000. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

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.