SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Sees Large Volume Increase – Still a Buy?

SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday. 2,181,485 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 28% from the previous session’s volume of 3,035,412 shares. The stock last traded at $19.6770 and had previously closed at $21.76.

SLM News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting SLM this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive despite lowering their targets. Royal Bank of Canada reduced its target from $28 to $26 while maintaining an “outperform” rating, and TD Cowen cut its target from $32 to $27 while retaining a “buy” rating. Both targets imply substantial upside from recent levels. Royal Bank of Canada analyst rating TD Cowen analyst rating
• Positive Sentiment: Private education loan originations increased 15% year over year to $3.4 billion, with graduate-loan originations rising 119%. Sixth Street also committed to purchase $1.5 billion of student loans annually, potentially supporting future loan volume and funding. SLM long-term investor takeaways
• Neutral Sentiment: SLM repurchased 5.1 million shares for $132.2 million during the quarter and announced a fourth-quarter dividend payable December 15, providing shareholder returns despite the weaker operating results. SLM dividend announcement
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter results were substantially below expectations: SLM reported a $0.19 per-share loss versus consensus for $0.17 of earnings, while revenue fell 31.3% year over year to $375.5 million, below the $453.3 million estimate. SLM third-quarter financial results
• Negative Sentiment: Higher credit costs drove the deterioration. Third-quarter provisions for credit losses totaled $213.7 million, net charge-offs reached $90 million, and delinquencies were 4.2% of loans in repayment. SLM now expects 2026 EPS of $1.95–$2.05, down from prior guidance of $3.10–$3.20 and below the roughly $3.12 analyst consensus. SLM cuts full-year guidance

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of SLM in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of SLM from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on SLM from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen lowered SLM from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of SLM from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SLM has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.67.

SLM Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of 5.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The company has a 50-day moving average of $24.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.03.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The credit services provider reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.36). SLM had a net margin of 26.09% and a return on equity of 33.81%. The firm had revenue of $375.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $453.34 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. SLM’s revenue was down 31.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that SLM Corporation will post 3.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.53%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLM. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in SLM during the second quarter valued at $455,576,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of SLM in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,184,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in SLM during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,236,000. PDT Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of SLM during the second quarter valued at about $5,261,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of SLM during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,268,000. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SLM Company Profile

SLM Corp., commonly known as Sallie Mae, is a financial services company focused on helping students and families finance higher education. Its primary business is the origination and servicing of private education loans, which can help cover tuition, fees, books, housing and other eligible education-related expenses not fully covered by federal student aid.

The company offers private student loans for undergraduate and graduate education, as well as loans for career-training programs and other education needs.