SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Issues Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.36 EPS

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The credit services provider reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.36), FiscalAI reports. SLM had a return on equity of 33.81% and a net margin of 26.09%. The firm had revenue of $375.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $453.34 million.

SLM Price Performance

SLM stock traded down $1.07 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $21.76. 7,889,022 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,045,930. The firm has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.02. SLM has a 1-year low of $17.77 and a 1-year high of $31.06.

SLM Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 4th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on SLM. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of SLM in a report on Monday, September 14th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $28.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered SLM from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SLM has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.22.

About SLM

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.