Royal Bank of Canada Increases SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Price Target to $25.00

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) had its price objective lifted by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $24.00 to $25.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 14.16% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. TheStreet raised SLM from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on SLM from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on SLM in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on SLM from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Citigroup raised SLM from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $23.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, SLM presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.32.

SLM Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SLM opened at $21.90 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $20.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.23. The company has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.84, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.16. 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 fifty-two week low of $12.26 and a fifty-two week high of $22.37.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.18. SLM had a return on equity of 47.72% 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that SLM will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 sale, 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. Insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLM

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of SLM by 81.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of SLM during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of SLM by 1,373.3% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of SLM by 37.0% during the 1st quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 1,828 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of SLM during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 98.94% 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.