SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Short Interest Down 14.7% in October

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,330,000 shares, a decline of 14.7% from the September 30th total of 7,420,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,460,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.3 days. Approximately 3.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of SLM stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total value of $102,150.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 101,093 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLM

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SLM. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in SLM by 13.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,077 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 594 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in SLM by 3.1% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 21,959 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $478,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of SLM by 5.3% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 18,708 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $428,000 after buying an additional 942 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of SLM by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 11,017 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in SLM by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,368 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $214,000 after buying an additional 1,029 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

SLM Stock Performance

SLM stock traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $22.16. 1,622,109 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,794,458. The stock has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $21.99 and its 200 day moving average is $21.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.29. SLM has a 52-week low of $12.81 and a 52-week high of $23.95.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its quarterly 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 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. The firm had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. Analysts predict that SLM will post 2.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This is an increase from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. SLM’s payout ratio is 16.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SLM shares. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of SLM in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.45.

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.