SLM Co. (SLM) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.11 on June 17th

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 22nd, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th will be given a dividend of 0.11 per share by the credit services provider on Monday, June 17th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%.

SLM has raised its dividend by an average of 54.2% per year over the last three years. SLM has a dividend payout ratio of 15.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect SLM to earn $2.93 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 15.0%.

SLM Trading Up 2.9 %

NASDAQ:SLM opened at $21.93 on Wednesday. SLM has a 12-month low of $12.26 and a 12-month high of $21.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.12.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.15). SLM had a net margin of 20.65% and a return on equity of 36.86%. The company had revenue of $725.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $379.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.33) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that SLM will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Donna F. Vieira sold 12,308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total transaction of $249,483.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,564,155. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Donna F. Vieira sold 12,308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total transaction of $249,483.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,564,155. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.72, for a total value of $1,949,296.16. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,093,000.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

SLM declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $650.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to reacquire up to 14.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SLM. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on SLM from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on SLM in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Citigroup upgraded SLM from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on SLM from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on SLM from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.32.

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.