SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Issues FY24 Earnings Guidance

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) updated its FY24 earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided EPS guidance of $2.60-$2.70 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $2.70. SLM also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 2.600-2.700 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SLM. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on SLM from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup raised SLM from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the company from $14.00 to $23.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Wedbush increased their target price on SLM from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on SLM from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on SLM from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $21.32.

SLM Stock Performance

SLM traded down $0.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $21.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,137,068 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,142,916. SLM has a 52-week low of $12.26 and a 52-week high of $22.37. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $20.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.17. The company has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.85, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that SLM will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.75%.

SLM declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 24th that allows the company to repurchase $650.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 14.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In other news, EVP Donna F. Vieira sold 12,308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total transaction of $249,483.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,564,155. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Donna F. Vieira sold 12,308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total transaction of $249,483.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,564,155. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.72, for a total transaction of $1,949,296.16. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,093,000.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.