Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP Has $4.07 Million Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 62.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 177,840 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 68,642 shares during the quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP owned 0.08% of SLM worth $4,067,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SLM. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in SLM during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of SLM by 358.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,399 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,094 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of SLM in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in SLM during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in SLM by 110.3% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,404 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 2,310 shares in the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

SLM Stock Down 1.6 %

SLM stock traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $27.42. 5,048,528 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,844,454. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $14.03 and a 1-year high of $28.22. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $23.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.85. The firm has a market cap of $5.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.16.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 2.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. 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 1.90%. SLM's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SLM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America started coverage on shares of SLM in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a "buy" rating and a $27.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SLM currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.