Nelnet (NNI) Competitors

Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) and SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, media sentiment, risk, institutional ownership, valuation and profitability.

Does the media refer more to NNI or SLM?

In the previous week, Nelnet had 1 more articles in the media than SLM. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for Nelnet and 8 mentions for SLM. Nelnet's average media sentiment score of 1.33 beat SLM's score of 1.08 indicating that Nelnet is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Nelnet	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
SLM	6 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, NNI or SLM?

SLM has higher revenue and earnings than Nelnet. Nelnet is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SLM, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nelnet	$2.14B	2.09	$184.04M	$9.03	13.64
SLM	$2.62B	2.54	$608.33M	$1.99	16.03

Which has more volatility & risk, NNI or SLM?

Nelnet has a beta of 0.9, suggesting that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SLM has a beta of 1.13, suggesting that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals believe in NNI or SLM?

33.5% of Nelnet shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.9% of SLM shares are owned by institutional investors. 50.9% of Nelnet shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of SLM shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is NNI or SLM more profitable?

SLM has a net margin of 15.46% compared to Nelnet's net margin of 14.86%. SLM's return on equity of 21.93% beat Nelnet's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nelnet	14.86%	10.09%	2.42%
SLM	15.46%	21.93%	1.49%

Do analysts recommend NNI or SLM?

Nelnet presently has a consensus price target of $98.00, indicating a potential downside of 20.42%. SLM has a consensus price target of $35.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.75%. Given SLM's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe SLM is more favorable than Nelnet.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nelnet	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
SLM	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.90

Is NNI or SLM a better dividend stock?

Nelnet pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. SLM pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Nelnet pays out 12.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. SLM pays out 26.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. SLM has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. SLM is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

SLM beats Nelnet on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.