Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Sells 234,950 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 6.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,674,013 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 234,950 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned about 1.73% of SLM worth $84,025,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SLM. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of SLM in the third quarter worth about $31,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in SLM during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in SLM by 358.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,399 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in SLM during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in SLM in the 2nd quarter valued at about $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company's stock.

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of SLM stock traded down $0.06 on Tuesday, hitting $26.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,709,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,852,024. SLM Co. has a fifty-two week low of $15.64 and a fifty-two week high of $28.22. The company has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a PE ratio of 9.23, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.21. The stock's 50 day moving average is $23.55 and its 200-day moving average is $22.05. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $363.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.11 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. 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 1.96%. SLM's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays reduced their target price on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of SLM in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $27.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $25.45.

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.