SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Issues FY24 Earnings Guidance

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) updated its FY24 earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided EPS guidance of $2.60-$2.70 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $2.70. SLM also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 2.600-2.700 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush upped their target price on SLM from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on SLM in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a buy rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on SLM from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. TheStreet upgraded SLM from a c+ rating to a b rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on SLM from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $21.32.

SLM Trading Down 0.1 %

SLM stock traded down $0.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $21.90. 1,857,590 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,217,371. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $20.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.23. SLM has a 52-week low of $12.26 and a 52-week high of $22.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.82 billion, a PE ratio of 6.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.16.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.18. SLM had a return on equity of 45.65% and a net margin of 25.15%. The firm had revenue of $837.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $376.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that SLM will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is 13.75%.

SLM announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $650.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to buy up to 14.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at SLM

In other news, EVP Donna F. Vieira sold 12,308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $2,564,155. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Donna F. Vieira sold 12,308 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 126,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,564,155. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.72, for a total value of $1,949,296.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,093,000.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.91% 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.