Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Grows Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 59.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 593,201 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 220,154 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in SLM were worth $12,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SLM by 81.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SLM in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of SLM in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of SLM by 46.4% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,330 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of SLM by 39.5% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on SLM shares. TD Cowen raised their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on SLM from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on SLM from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on SLM from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.18.

SLM Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SLM opened at $20.51 on Thursday. SLM Co. has a fifty-two week low of $12.26 and a fifty-two week high of $22.74. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $21.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.67. The firm has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a PE ratio of 6.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.16.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.18. SLM had a return on equity of 45.65% and a net margin of 25.15%. The firm had revenue of $837.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $376.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th were given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. SLM’s payout ratio is 13.75%.

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.