Quest Partners LLC Makes New Investment in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 27,222 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $623,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of SLM during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in SLM by 358.7% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in SLM in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SLM in the 2nd quarter valued at $60,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of SLM by 110.3% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $101,000 after acquiring an additional 2,310 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SLM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of SLM in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.45.

SLM Price Performance

SLM stock opened at $27.13 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. SLM Co. has a 52-week low of $14.03 and a 52-week high of $27.18.

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 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 business had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.40 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that SLM Co. will post 2.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This is a positive change from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. SLM’s payout ratio is currently 18.12%.

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.