Barclays Cuts SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Price Target to $27.00

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) had its price target decreased by Barclays from $35.00 to $27.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Compass Point raised shares of SLM from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, March 30th. Zacks Research raised shares of SLM from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of SLM from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of SLM from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.70.

SLM Trading Down 1.2%

SLM stock opened at $21.64 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $22.16 and its 200-day moving average is $25.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.28. SLM has a 1 year low of $17.77 and a 1 year high of $34.97. The company has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.24, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.04.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.17. SLM had a net margin of 26.04% and a return on equity of 34.79%. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $383.43 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. SLM has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700-2.800 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that SLM will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLM

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SLM. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of SLM by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 21,350 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $627,000 after purchasing an additional 1,319 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of SLM during the 1st quarter valued at about $263,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of SLM by 33.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 547,724 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $16,087,000 after purchasing an additional 137,285 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of SLM by 118.2% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,995 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 2,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of SLM by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 36,889 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,210,000 after purchasing an additional 2,109 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

About SLM

SLM Corporation, operating as Sallie Mae Bank, is a leading U.S.-based consumer banking company specializing in education financing and related banking products. The company provides a range of private student loans for undergraduate and graduate studies, Parent PLUS loans, and specialized financing for career and certificate programs. In addition to its core lending services, Sallie Mae offers deposit products including savings accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and credit cards tailored to students and young adults.

Founded in 1972 as the Student Loan Marketing Association—a government-sponsored enterprise—Sallie Mae was privatized in 2004 and has since focused on expanding its private education loan offerings and digital banking solutions.