Captrust Financial Advisors Buys New Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 11,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $274,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLM during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in SLM by 358.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,399 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,094 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of SLM in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of SLM in the second quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of SLM by 110.3% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 2,310 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at SLM

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of SLM 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 completion of the sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SLM shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (up from $27.00) on shares of SLM in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of SLM in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. Barclays dropped 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. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.80.

SLM Stock Down 0.2 %

SLM opened at $27.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.47, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.21. SLM Co. has a one year low of $17.94 and a one year high of $28.22. The business’s fifty day moving average is $24.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.41.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.30). The business 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that SLM Co. will post 2.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is an increase from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is currently 18.12%.

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.