SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Rating Lowered to Hold at Zacks Research

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on SLM. Morgan Stanley set a $27.00 target price on shares of SLM in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of SLM from $32.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. 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, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $28.00 target price on shares of SLM in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.80.

SLM Stock Down 0.9%

SLM opened at $21.88 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $21.78 and a 200 day moving average of $24.47. The company has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 6.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.01. SLM has a 12 month low of $17.77 and a 12 month high of $34.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.59.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.40. SLM had a net margin of 26.42% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The business had revenue of $559.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $486.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. SLM has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.200 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that SLM will post 3.14 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of SLM

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SLM. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 19.4% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 146.1% during the 1st quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 44,570 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $954,000 after purchasing an additional 26,460 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 63.1% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 261,392 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,596,000 after purchasing an additional 101,120 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 53,673 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,452,000 after purchasing an additional 12,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,649 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 669 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

SLM Company Profile

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.