Wedbush Issues Optimistic Estimate for SLM Earnings

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) – Stock analysts at Wedbush raised their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for SLM in a report released on Monday, November 25th. Wedbush analyst D. Chiaverini now forecasts that the credit services provider will earn $1.19 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $1.09. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $26.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for SLM’s current full-year earnings is $2.73 per share.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.30). SLM had a net margin of 22.18% and a return on equity of 35.92%. The company had revenue of $652.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.40 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on SLM. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays decreased their price objective on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on SLM in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.45.

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of SLM stock opened at $27.20 on Wednesday. SLM has a 12-month low of $14.03 and a 12-month high of $28.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLM

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of SLM by 5.7% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,461,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $271,626,000 after buying an additional 674,424 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of SLM by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,923,576 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $158,342,000 after buying an additional 43,927 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of SLM by 2.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,687,920 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $118,248,000 after buying an additional 119,342 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of SLM by 7.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,762,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $108,936,000 after buying an additional 331,490 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of SLM by 23.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,453,521 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $92,589,000 after buying an additional 859,625 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

SLM Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This is a boost from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.33%.

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.