SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.13

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 23rd, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.13 per share by the credit services provider on Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This is an increase from SLM's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11.

SLM has raised its dividend payment by an average of 54.2% per year over the last three years. SLM has a dividend payout ratio of 14.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect SLM to earn $3.01 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 14.6%.

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SLM traded down $0.31 during trading on Friday, hitting $21.90. The stock had a trading volume of 2,880,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,793,484. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66. SLM has a 12-month low of $12.26 and a 12-month high of $23.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.50.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $652.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.40 million. SLM had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 41.84%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that SLM will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of SLM stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total value of $102,150.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 101,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,294,811.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

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.