SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Hits New 52-Week High Following Dividend Announcement

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $21.97 and last traded at $21.95, with a volume of 566427 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $21.32.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 6th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on SLM shares. TheStreet upgraded shares of SLM from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup upgraded shares of SLM from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $14.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of SLM from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of SLM from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of SLM in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.32.

SLM Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a PE ratio of 9.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.14.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.29. SLM had a return on equity of 36.86% and a net margin of 20.65%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

SLM declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $650.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to buy up to 14.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at SLM

In other news, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of SLM stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.72, for a total value of $1,949,296.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 52,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,093,000.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of SLM stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.72, for a total value of $1,949,296.16. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,093,000.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Donna F. Vieira sold 12,308 shares of SLM stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total value of $249,483.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 126,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,564,155. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.91% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLM

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of SLM by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,136,784 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $633,575,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,557 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of SLM by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 11,786,932 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $225,574,000 after buying an additional 1,969,885 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of SLM by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,473,007 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $123,767,000 after buying an additional 170,764 shares in the last quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP lifted its position in shares of SLM by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP now owns 4,282,732 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $58,331,000 after buying an additional 357,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of SLM by 967.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,923,491 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $39,818,000 after buying an additional 2,649,626 shares in the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.