NEW YORK - Barclays (LON:BARC) has expressed confidence in SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM), the leading private student lending firm, by issuing an Overweight recommendation and setting a one-year price target of $17.06. This target suggests a 13.67% potential increase from the company's recent closing price of $15.01.
SLM is anticipated to report a substantial rise in annual revenue, with projections indicating a 35.93% jump to $1,468 million compared to the previous year. Analysts are also forecasting a robust non-GAAP EPS of 2.64 for the firm.
The recommendation comes even as institutional ownership has seen a 5.89% dip. Nevertheless, market sentiment around SLM remains upbeat, as evidenced by a low put/call ratio of 0.32, which indicates a bullish outlook among investors.
Key stakeholders in SLM include prominent names such as Impactive Capital, Massachusetts Financial Services, UBS Asset Management Americas, Boston Partners, and VTSMX - Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares.
SLM continues to play a pivotal role in the education sector by offering financing options and resources that support college access and further educational pursuits, underscoring its commitment to fostering life-long learning.
InvestingPro Insights
InvestingPro data provides an insightful perspective on SLM Corporation's financial performance. As of Q3 2023, the company had a market cap of $3400M and a P/E ratio of 11.17, indicating a relatively low valuation compared to earnings. Additionally, SLM's revenue for the last twelve months as of Q3 2023 was $1079.99M USD, reflecting a challenging period with a decline of 35.36%.
Turning to InvestingPro Tips, two key points stand out. First, SLM's management has been aggressively buying back shares, indicating their confidence in the company's future. Second, despite poor earnings and cash flow that may force dividend cuts, seven analysts have revised their earnings upwards for the upcoming period. This suggests that the market has a positive outlook for SLM's future profitability.
InvestingPro offers additional tips and insights on SLM and other companies, providing investors with valuable information to make informed decisions. For instance, there are eight more tips available for SLM on InvestingPro, covering aspects such as trends in earnings per share, revenue growth rate, and returns on book equity.
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