Legal & General Group Plc Buys New Shares in SLM Corporation $SLM

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 276,400 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,170,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in SLM during the second quarter worth $3,349,000. Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in shares of SLM by 113.3% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 228,100 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,917,000 after purchasing an additional 121,160 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in SLM in the 2nd quarter valued at about $231,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new position in shares of SLM in the second quarter valued at approximately $169,136,000. Finally, Kendall Capital Management acquired a new position in SLM in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,247,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on SLM. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $26.00 target price (down from $30.00) on shares of SLM in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on SLM from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of SLM from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $28.00 target price on shares of SLM in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.80.

SLM Stock Up 2.9%

NASDAQ SLM opened at $26.51 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $26.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a PE ratio of 7.41, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.96. SLM Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $17.77 and a fifty-two week high of $32.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.32.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.17). SLM had a net margin of 26.09% and a return on equity of 33.81%. The business had revenue of $401.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $409.22 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. SLM has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.200 EPS. Equities analysts expect that SLM Corporation will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. SLM’s payout ratio is currently 14.53%.

SLM Profile

SLM Corporation, operating as Sallie Mae Bank, is a leading U.S.-based consumer banking company specializing in education financing and related banking products. The company provides a range of private student loans for undergraduate and graduate studies, Parent PLUS loans, and specialized financing for career and certificate programs. In addition to its core lending services, Sallie Mae offers deposit products including savings accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and credit cards tailored to students and young adults.

Founded in 1972 as the Student Loan Marketing Association—a government-sponsored enterprise—Sallie Mae was privatized in 2004 and has since focused on expanding its private education loan offerings and digital banking solutions.