SLM Co. (SLM) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 5th

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 22nd, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.13 per share by the credit services provider on Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th.

SLM has increased its dividend payment by an average of 32.0% per year over the last three years. SLM has a payout ratio of 15.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect SLM to earn $3.34 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.6%.

SLM Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SLM opened at $30.19 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.32. SLM has a 52-week low of $19.39 and a 52-week high of $32.65. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.33. The firm has a market cap of $6.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.39, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.22.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a net margin of 20.73% and a return on equity of 31.66%. As a group, research analysts forecast that SLM will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SLM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their price target on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Compass Point lifted their price objective on shares of SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SLM has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.91.

Insider Activity

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total transaction of $1,142,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,233,166.91. This represents a 48.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.