Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 1,094 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM – Get Rating) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 981,291 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,094 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in SLM were worth $16,289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SLM in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in SLM by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 108,549 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,802,000 after buying an additional 1,380 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management increased its holdings in SLM by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 15,778 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 3,620 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in SLM by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 160,469 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,664,000 after buying an additional 40,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in SLM by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 910,414 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $15,113,000 after buying an additional 6,150 shares during the last quarter. 96.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of SLM stock opened at $15.36 on Wednesday. SLM Co. has a 12 month low of $10.81 and a 12 month high of $20.17. The stock has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of 8.93 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $13.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.27.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The credit services provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $405.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $372.98 million. SLM had a net margin of 18.07% and a return on equity of 28.19%. SLM’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 1st. SLM’s payout ratio is presently 25.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Credit Suisse Group reduced their target price on shares of SLM from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of SLM from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Monday, April 17th. Compass Point upgraded shares of SLM from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 14th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of SLM from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.92.

SLM Profile

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SLM Corp. engages in the provision and administration of education loans. Its services include private education loans, banking, college savings, and insurance services. The company was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Newark, DE.