Wedbush Has Pessimistic Outlook of SLM FY2024 Earnings

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) – Investment analysts at Wedbush cut their FY2024 earnings estimates for shares of SLM in a report issued on Tuesday, November 5th. Wedbush analyst D. Chiaverini now expects that the credit services provider will post earnings per share of $2.60 for the year, down from their prior forecast of $2.76. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating and a $26.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for SLM’s current full-year earnings is $2.75 per share.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.30). SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. The company had revenue of $652.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.40 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of SLM in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, SLM presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.45.

SLM Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of SLM stock opened at $23.71 on Wednesday. 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 has a twelve month low of $13.93 and a twelve month high of $24.59. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $22.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.60. The stock has a market cap of $5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.26, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.16.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SLM. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of SLM in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of SLM by 358.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,399 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of SLM in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of SLM in the second quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of SLM by 378.1% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,050 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,412 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

SLM Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. 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 2.19%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.33%.

SLM Company 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.