SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.13

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 22nd,Zacks Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 1.96%. 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 raised its dividend by an average of 54.2% per year over the last three years. SLM has a payout ratio of 17.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect SLM to earn $3.10 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.8%.

SLM Price Performance

NASDAQ:SLM opened at $26.56 on Tuesday. SLM has a 1-year low of $15.64 and a 1-year high of $28.22. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a PE ratio of 9.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.21.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.40 million. SLM had a net margin of 22.18% and a return on equity of 35.92%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.11 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that SLM will post 2.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America began coverage on SLM in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price for the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.45.

SLM Company Profile

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.