SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.13 Per Share

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 23rd, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of 0.13 per share by the credit services provider on Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. 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 increased its dividend by an average of 54.2% per year over the last three years. SLM has a payout ratio of 14.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Trading Down 2.6 %

NASDAQ:SLM opened at $22.21 on Friday. SLM has a 52 week low of $12.26 and a 52 week high of $23.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $21.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.50. The firm has a market cap of $4.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) 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 net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 41.84%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that SLM will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total transaction of $102,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 101,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,294,811.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on 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 raised their target price on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.67.

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.