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Shares of SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM – Get Free Report) saw strong trading volume on Friday. Approximately 2,181,485 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 28% from the previous session’s volume of 3,035,412 shares. The stock last traded at $19.6770 and had previously closed at $21.76.

Key Headlines Impacting SLM Here are the key news stories impacting SLM this week:

Positive Sentiment: Private education loan originations rose 15% year over year to a record $3.4 billion, while graduate-loan originations increased 119%. SLM also repurchased 5.1 million shares for $132.2 million, supporting per-share value over the longer term. Sallie Mae Reports Third-Quarter Results Positive Sentiment: Sixth Street committed to purchase approximately $1.5 billion of student loans annually, potentially expanding SLM’s funding and loan-origination capacity. SLM: Three Key Takeaways Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley, RBC, and TD Cowen lowered their price targets to $26, $26, and $27, respectively, but retained positive ratings ranging from overweight to buy. The revisions indicate reduced near-term expectations while implying substantial potential upside from recent levels. Negative Sentiment: SLM reported a $35.9 million net loss attributable to common stock, or $0.19 per share, compared with $0.63 of earnings a year earlier. Revenue fell 31.3% year over year to approximately $375.5 million, below the $453.3 million consensus estimate. SLM Quarterly Earnings Results Negative Sentiment: Management cut 2026 diluted EPS guidance to $1.95–$2.05 from $3.10–$3.20 and raised expected full-year net charge-offs to $400–$420 million. Third-quarter charge-offs reached about $90 million, reflecting increased defaults tied partly to third-party debt-resolution practices. Negative Sentiment: Credit-loss provisions totaled $213.7 million and non-interest expenses rose to roughly $220.7 million as SLM spent more to capture seasonal loan demand. These higher costs overwhelmed the strong origination growth and are the primary reasons investors have sold the stock. Sallie Mae Cuts Full-Year View Analyst Ratings Changes A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on SLM from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded SLM from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on SLM from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on SLM from $32.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SLM currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.44.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on SLM SLM Stock Down 10.8% The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a PE ratio of 7.04, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50 day moving average of $24.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.99.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The credit services provider reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.36). SLM had a net margin of 20.43% and a return on equity of 25.75%. The company had revenue of $375.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $453.34 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. SLM’s revenue for the quarter was down 31.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that SLM Corporation will post 2.00 EPS for the current year.

SLM Announces Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.84%.

Institutional Trading of SLM Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new position in shares of SLM in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $237,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of SLM by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,336 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 787 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of SLM by 78.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 15,106 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 6,654 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of SLM during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of SLM by 44.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 270,049 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,111,000 after acquiring an additional 82,611 shares in the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About SLM (Get Free Report)

SLM Corp., commonly known as Sallie Mae, is a financial services company focused on helping students and families finance higher education. Its primary business is the origination and servicing of private education loans, which can help cover tuition, fees, books, housing and other eligible education-related expenses not fully covered by federal student aid.

The company offers private student loans for undergraduate and graduate education, as well as loans for career-training programs and other education needs.

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Sallie Mae (SLM - Free Report) reported $339.32 million in revenue for the quarter ended September 2026, representing a year-over-year decline of 9%. EPS of -$0.19 for the same period compares to $0.63 a year ago.

The reported revenue compares to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $353.66 million, representing a surprise of -4.05%. The company delivered an EPS surprise of -258.33%, with the consensus EPS estimate being $0.12.

While investors scrutinize revenue and earnings changes year-over-year and how they compare with Wall Street expectations to determine their next move, some key metrics always offer a more accurate picture of a company's financial health.

Since these metrics play a crucial role in driving the top- and bottom-line numbers, comparing them with the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated about them helps investors better project a stock's price performance.

Here is how Sallie Mae performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts:

Net Interest Margin: 4.9% versus 4.9% estimated by two analysts on average.Efficiency Ratio: 58.8% versus 47.7% estimated by two analysts on average.Net Interest Income: $339.32 million versus the two-analyst average estimate of $349.1 million.Gains (losses) on sales of loans, net: $3.65 million versus the two-analyst average estimate of $47.28 million.Total Non-Interest Income: $36.15 million versus $102.97 million estimated by two analysts on average.View all Key Company Metrics for Sallie Mae here>>>

Shares of Sallie Mae have returned -3.3% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's no change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), indicating that it could perform in line with the broader market in the near term.

SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM – Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $29.40.

Several research firms recently weighed in on SLM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on SLM from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $28.00 price target on SLM in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on SLM from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective (down from $30.00) on shares of SLM in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on SLM

SLM Price Performance
NASDAQ SLM opened at $22.94 on Tuesday. SLM has a fifty-two week low of $17.77 and a fifty-two week high of $31.06. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $25.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.96. The firm has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.96. 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 – Get Free Report) last released 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). The company had revenue of $401.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $409.22 million. SLM had a return on equity of 33.81% and a net margin of 26.09%. The business’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. SLM has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.200 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that SLM will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.53%.

Institutional Trading of SLM
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 16.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,461 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 1,882 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of SLM by 52.1% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,819 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of SLM by 48.7% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,016 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of SLM by 32.2% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 66,623 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,728,000 after acquiring an additional 16,233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in SLM by 5.5% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 497,731 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $12,911,000 after acquiring an additional 26,026 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

SLM Company Profile
(Get Free Report)

SLM Corp., operating under the Sallie Mae brand, is a financial services company focused on education financing. It primarily provides private student loans to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as education loans for parents and other creditworthy borrowers. Sallie Mae also offers related products and resources designed to help families plan and pay for college.

The company’s private education loans can be used for eligible expenses such as tuition, fees, books, supplies, and living costs.

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SLM NASDAQ: SLM, known as Sallie Mae, reported second-quarter 2026 GAAP diluted earnings of $0.29 per share and said early indicators from the first peak season following Federal PLUS reform are tracking at the high end of expectations or better.

Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Witter said the company has spent the past year preparing for changes in the higher education financing market after Federal PLUS reform “created the potential for a $4.5 billion-$5 billion increase in annual originations for Sallie Mae over the next several years.” He said Sallie Mae has completed planned product and capability updates ahead of peak season, including enhancements to its medical, dental, law and MBA products and the launch of a new parent loan.

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“While peak season is just beginning and it is too early for definitive conclusions, the application and volume trends for these new products ... are at the higher end of our expectations or better,” Witter said. He added that the trends, if sustained, support the company’s 2026 origination estimates and its longer-term view of the opportunity from PLUS program changes.

Originations Rise as Credit Quality Holds Steady Sallie Mae reported second-quarter loan originations of $716 million, up nearly 4.5% from the prior-year quarter. Witter said origination credit quality improved modestly year over year, with average FICO scores rising to 755 from 754, while cosigner rates remained strong at 84%.

The company also emphasized its position with school partners. Witter said Sallie Mae remains a preferred lender for more than 2,100 schools and has focused on supporting those relationships as the financing landscape changes.

Net Interest Income Falls, but Fee Revenue Grows Co-President and Chief Financial Officer Peter Graham said Sallie Mae generated $333 million of net interest income and $45 million of other income in the quarter. Net interest income declined by $44 million from the year-ago period, while other income increased by $16 million, driven by recurring program management fees from the company’s strategic partnership and growth in servicing fee revenue.

Net interest margin was 4.75% for the quarter. Graham said the moderation was expected and primarily reflected higher liquidity levels following a loan sale completed in late March. He said the company expects margin expansion to resume in the second half as excess liquidity is deployed into peak-season originations.

“As a result, we believe the second quarter will likely represent the low point for margin this year,” Graham said. In response to an analyst question, he said the company expects to normalize closer to its long-term target range of around 5%, though not necessarily far above that level in 2026.

Debt Resolution Activity Weighs on Recoveries Credit remained a major focus of the call. Witter said Sallie Mae has identified activity affecting a small borrower segment that the company believes has both the willingness and capacity to repay but is moving directly through delinquency to default. He said many of those borrowers appear to be engaging with debt resolution providers whose services are marketed as consolidation or refinancing solutions.

Witter said Sallie Mae does not believe many of those practices are in customers’ best interests and has taken steps to increase control over post-default recoveries. The company previously estimated a potential roughly $25 million impact to 2026 recoveries from the change in recovery practices, but Witter described the issue as “largely a timing dynamic.”

Net charge-offs were $113 million in the quarter, up from $94 million in the prior-year quarter. Witter said about $16 million of the year-over-year increase was attributable to the misaligned third-party debt resolution practices and related changes in recovery strategy. He said the company does not view the increase as a broad-based weakening in credit.

Private education loans delinquent 30 days or more were 3.7% of loans in repayment, up from 3.5% a year earlier but down from 4% at the end of the first quarter. The provision for credit losses was $126 million, down from $149 million in the year-ago quarter, and the reserve rate was 5.89%, down six basis points from the prior-year period.

Witter also pointed to continued performance from loan modification programs. He said borrowers in active modification cohorts have payment success rates above 80% over six- and 12-month periods, while more than 75% of borrowers exiting the programs are consistently making payments after three and six months.

Expenses Rise as Company Invests for Growth Non-interest expenses were $195 million, up $28 million from the prior-year quarter. Graham said most of the increase reflected one-time investments in product enhancements and strategic initiatives tied to expected growth from federal lending reforms. The efficiency ratio was 48.6%, up seven percentage points year over year.

Graham said revenue growth from servicing and recurring program management fees offset a significant portion of those investments. In the Q&A session, he said the company still expects the rate of expense growth in 2027 to be roughly half the rate from 2025 to 2026, while noting that management would like to do better.

Guidance Updated, Buybacks Continue Sallie Mae narrowed its 2026 net charge-off guidance range, maintaining the high end at $385 million and raising the low end to $365 million. The company affirmed all other guidance metrics. Graham said the expected $25 million potential impact from recovery changes has been partially offset by slightly better-than-expected performance in the broader portfolio.

The company also continued to return capital to shareholders. Graham said Sallie Mae completed a $200 million accelerated share repurchase program during the second quarter, repurchasing 9.3 million shares. Year to date, the company has repurchased about 13 million shares, or 6.5% of shares outstanding at the end of 2025, at an average price of $21.95 per share.

Since 2020, Graham said Sallie Mae has reduced shares outstanding by approximately 59% at an average price of $17.19 per share. The company ended the quarter with $242 million remaining under its repurchase authorization, which it expects to substantially deploy during the remainder of 2026.

Sallie Mae ended the quarter with liquidity equal to 18.6% of total assets. Total risk-based capital was 13.1%, and Common Equity Tier 1 capital was 11.8%.

During the Q&A session, Graham said discussions with a potential second loan sale partner are progressing and could close in the third quarter or early fourth quarter. He said the existing partnership with KKR is performing according to plan and that both KKR and the potential second partner have expressed interest in building capabilities for graduate loan products.

About SLM (NASDAQ:SLM)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.

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