Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Reiterates Market Perform Rating for SLM (NASDAQ:SLM)

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $30.00 price target on the credit services provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $27.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 14.37% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on SLM. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of SLM in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.00.

SLM Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of SLM opened at $26.23 on Monday. SLM has a 1-year low of $16.79 and a 1-year high of $28.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $24.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.14, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.21.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.30). SLM had a net margin of 22.18% and a return on equity of 35.92%. The firm had revenue of $652.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that SLM will post 2.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total transaction of $122,625.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 83,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,265,292.50. This represents a 5.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SLM

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in SLM in the third quarter worth approximately $623,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its stake in shares of SLM by 50.7% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 290,636 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,042,000 after buying an additional 97,832 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of SLM in the third quarter worth $3,250,000. Shikiar Asset Management Inc. increased its position in SLM by 19.5% during the second quarter. Shikiar Asset Management Inc. now owns 211,350 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,394,000 after acquiring an additional 34,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP increased its position in SLM by 62.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 68,642 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.