SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at Compass Point

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) was downgraded by equities researchers at Compass Point from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $23.00 price target on the credit services provider’s stock, down from their prior price target of $35.00. Compass Point’s price target points to a potential downside of 15.97% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on SLM from $40.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on SLM from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of SLM in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of SLM from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SLM from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SLM has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.20.

SLM Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SLM opened at $27.37 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The company has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $27.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.10. SLM has a twelve month low of $23.81 and a twelve month high of $34.97.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 14th. The credit services provider reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. SLM had a net margin of 21.76% and a return on equity of 30.13%. The company had revenue of ($3.44) million for the quarter. SLM has set its FY 2022 guidance at $2.800-$3.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that SLM will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in SLM by 17.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,593 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,971 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 15,885 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of SLM by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 24,238 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $712,000 after buying an additional 2,420 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SLM during the 1st quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of SLM by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 390,788 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,477,000 after buying an additional 5,900 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.