Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 28.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 118,901 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 47,637 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in SLM were worth $2,719,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. purchased a new position in SLM during the 3rd quarter valued at about $211,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in shares of SLM by 7.2% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 25,617 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 1,710 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 194.7% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 33,273 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $761,000 after purchasing an additional 21,984 shares during the last quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of SLM in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $240,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of SLM by 3,800.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,406,384 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $55,034,000 after buying an additional 2,344,691 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of SLM in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.45.

SLM Stock Performance

SLM stock opened at $21.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.27. SLM Co. has a 1 year low of $13.52 and a 1 year high of $23.95. The company has a market cap of $4.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $22.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.54.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.30). SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. The firm had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.13 dividend. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.12%.

SLM 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.