SLM Co. Expected to Post Q1 2025 Earnings of $1.30 Per Share (NASDAQ:SLM)

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) – Investment analysts at Wedbush issued their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for SLM in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, March 27th. Wedbush analyst D. Chiaverini forecasts that the credit services provider will post earnings of $1.30 per share for the quarter. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for SLM’s current full-year earnings is $2.66 per share.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.15). SLM had a net margin of 20.65% and a return on equity of 36.86%. The company had revenue of $725.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $379.20 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.33) earnings per share.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded SLM from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, December 8th. Citigroup upgraded SLM from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $20.00 target price (up from $18.00) on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on SLM from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on SLM from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.77.

SLM Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SLM opened at $21.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22. SLM has a 52-week low of $11.61 and a 52-week high of $21.94. The firm has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.08, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s fifty day moving average is $20.27 and its 200 day moving average is $17.13.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLM

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of SLM by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 7,891 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of SLM by 81.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of SLM by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 58,643 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $727,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of SLM by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 21,663 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in SLM by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,330 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at SLM

In other SLM news, EVP Donna F. Vieira sold 12,308 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total value of $249,483.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 126,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,564,155. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other SLM news, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.72, for a total value of $1,949,296.16. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,093,000.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Donna F. Vieira sold 12,308 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total value of $249,483.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 126,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,564,155. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

SLM declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $650.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to reacquire up to 14.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.33%.

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.