Q1 Earnings Forecast for SLM Issued By Wedbush (NASDAQ:SLM)

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) – Equities researchers at Wedbush raised their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for SLM in a research note issued to investors on Monday, November 25th. Wedbush analyst D. Chiaverini now forecasts that the credit services provider will earn $1.19 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $1.09. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for SLM’s current full-year earnings is $2.73 per share.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.30). SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. The firm had revenue of $652.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.11 EPS.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of SLM in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. Barclays reduced 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, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.45.

SLM Price Performance

Shares of SLM opened at $27.20 on Wednesday. SLM has a fifty-two week low of $14.03 and a fifty-two week high of $28.22. The company has a market capitalization of $5.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLM

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of SLM by 35.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 415,607 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,596,000 after purchasing an additional 108,463 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of SLM in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,797,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of SLM in the 3rd quarter worth about $655,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of SLM by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,762,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $108,936,000 after purchasing an additional 331,490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp bought a new stake in shares of SLM in the 3rd quarter worth about $200,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

SLM Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. This is a positive change from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. SLM’s payout ratio is currently 15.33%.

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.