Guggenheim Capital LLC Makes New Investment in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Guggenheim Capital LLC purchased a new stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 14,068 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $388,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in SLM by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,849 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of SLM by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 33,825 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $933,000 after acquiring an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its position in SLM by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 24,263 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $669,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in SLM by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 9,052 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at SLM

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 43,163 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,166.91. This represents a 48.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

SLM Stock Performance

SLM stock opened at $27.75 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05. SLM Co. has a 12 month low of $19.39 and a 12 month high of $32.65. 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 stock's 50-day moving average is $28.48 and its 200-day moving average is $27.16.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.21. SLM had a net margin of 20.73% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm had revenue of $374.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $359.83 million. Equities analysts anticipate that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. SLM's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point increased their price target on SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $33.00 price objective (up previously from $31.00) on shares of SLM in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $30.73.

SLM 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.

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