SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,920,000 shares, a decrease of 46.8% from the March 15th total of 11,120,000 shares. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,190,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of SLM stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total value of $1,142,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,233,166.91. The trade was a 48.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SLM

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of SLM by 86.4% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 971 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in SLM by 37.7% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in SLM by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,849 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of SLM by 355.4% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,899 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 1,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of SLM in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $86,000. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on SLM from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.18.

SLM Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of SLM traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $26.60. The stock had a trading volume of 354,543 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,166,311. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05. SLM has a twelve month low of $19.39 and a twelve month high of $32.65. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.92.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. On average, analysts anticipate that SLM will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is currently 19.62%.

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.