SouthState Corp Acquires Shares of 29,500 SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

SouthState Corp bought a new position in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 29,500 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $814,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in SLM by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,923,576 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $158,342,000 after acquiring an additional 43,927 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLM in the 3rd quarter valued at about $623,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of SLM during the third quarter worth about $3,250,000. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP grew its stake in SLM by 62.9% in the third quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 177,840 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,067,000 after purchasing an additional 68,642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in SLM by 103.4% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 135,014 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,712,000 after buying an additional 68,632 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

SLM Price Performance

SLM opened at $29.26 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $29.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.23. SLM Co. has a 12 month low of $19.39 and a 12 month high of $32.65.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a net margin of 20.73% and a return on equity of 31.66%. As a group, research analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total value of $1,142,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 43,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,233,166.91. The trade was a 48.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on SLM. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point lifted their price target on shares of SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SLM presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.45.

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.