Research Analysts Issue Forecasts for SLM Q1 Earnings

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) – Equities research analysts at Wedbush lowered their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for SLM in a report released on Thursday, October 24th. Wedbush analyst D. Chiaverini now expects that the credit services provider will post earnings per share of $1.09 for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $1.25. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for SLM’s current full-year earnings is $2.85 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for SLM’s Q3 2025 earnings at $0.68 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $0.74 EPS.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its earnings results 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 24.67% and a return on equity of 41.84%. The company had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.11 EPS.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on SLM. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America started coverage on SLM in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.67.

SLM Trading Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ:SLM opened at $21.90 on Friday. SLM has a 1-year low of $12.26 and a 1-year high of $23.95. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $21.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.84, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.15.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SLM. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in SLM by 3,800.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,406,384 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $55,034,000 after purchasing an additional 2,344,691 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in SLM by 107.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,366,642 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $49,202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224,015 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of SLM by 253.8% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,290,997 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,840,000 after acquiring an additional 926,120 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of SLM by 23.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,453,521 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $92,589,000 after acquiring an additional 859,625 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of SLM by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,461,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $271,626,000 after acquiring an additional 674,424 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total value of $102,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 101,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,294,811.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

SLM Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This is an increase from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.