SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.13 Per Share

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 23rd, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.13 per share by the credit services provider on Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This is an increase from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11.

SLM has raised its dividend payment by an average of 54.2% per year over the last three years. SLM has a payout ratio of 14.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect SLM to earn $3.01 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 14.6%.

SLM Trading Down 2.6 %

NASDAQ SLM opened at $22.21 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $21.92 and its 200 day moving average is $21.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.88 billion, a PE ratio of 6.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.15. SLM has a twelve month low of $12.26 and a twelve month high of $23.95.

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 41.84% and a net margin of 24.67%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that SLM will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SLM. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of SLM in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays cut their target price on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total transaction of $102,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 101,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,294,811.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

SLM Company Profile

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.