ARGA Investment Management LP Trims Stock Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

ARGA Investment Management LP trimmed its stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 40.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 70,619 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 48,452 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP’s holdings in SLM were worth $1,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in SLM by 2.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,687,920 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $118,248,000 after buying an additional 119,342 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SLM by 23.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,453,521 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $92,589,000 after acquiring an additional 859,625 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in SLM by 3,800.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,406,384 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $55,034,000 after purchasing an additional 2,344,691 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in SLM by 107.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,366,642 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $49,202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224,015 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in SLM by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,758,057 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $40,207,000 after purchasing an additional 15,252 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SLM Price Performance

SLM stock opened at $27.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.29. SLM Co. has a one year low of $14.64 and a one year high of $28.22. The company has a market cap of $5.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a fifty day moving average of $23.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.00.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. The company had revenue of $652.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This is an increase from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.