Heritage Investors Management Corp Has $3.93 Million Stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Heritage Investors Management Corp trimmed its position in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 12.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 171,980 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 25,065 shares during the quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp owned 0.08% of SLM worth $3,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in SLM by 117.5% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 73,140 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,594,000 after purchasing an additional 39,519 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings in shares of SLM by 50.7% during the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 290,636 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $6,042,000 after acquiring an additional 97,832 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in SLM by 77.8% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 64,514 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,406,000 after acquiring an additional 28,236 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of SLM by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 816,274 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $17,788,000 after purchasing an additional 26,064 shares during the period. Finally, Shikiar Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 19.5% in the second quarter. Shikiar Asset Management Inc. now owns 211,350 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $4,394,000 after purchasing an additional 34,550 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SLM has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America started coverage on shares of SLM in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a "buy" rating and a $27.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $25.45.

SLM Stock Performance

SLM traded up $2.60 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $24.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,923,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,801,250. The company's 50-day moving average is $22.05 and its 200-day moving average is $21.56. SLM Co. has a 52 week low of $13.93 and a 52 week high of $24.53. The firm has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a PE ratio of 8.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.16. 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 (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $652.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.40 million. SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.11 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 2.75 EPS for the current year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. SLM's payout ratio is 15.33%.

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.