SLM (SLM)
NASDAQ:SLM
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SLM
(NASDAQ:SLM)
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Rating:69Neutral
Price Target:
$26.00
▲(14.84% Upside)
Action:ReiteratedDate:04/28/26
The score is driven by very attractive valuation (low P/E plus dividend) and a positive earnings-call setup (raised/tightened EPS outlook, loan-sale gains, and aggressive buybacks). These are balanced by fundamental risks—revenue volatility, high leverage, and historically uneven cash generation—and by technicals that are improving short-term but still below longer-term moving averages.
Positive Factors
High Return on Equity
Sustained ROE near 27–31% indicates the firm consistently converts equity into earnings, reflecting operating leverage in its lending model and effective capital allocation. Over 2–6 months this supports continued ability to fund buybacks, dividends and investment without immediate reliance on external equity.
Negative Factors
High Leverage Profile
A debt-to-equity ratio in the mid-2s to 3x amplifies earnings volatility and sensitivity to funding costs. Over several months, elevated leverage can constrain flexibility during tighter credit or funding markets and increases the risk that rising charge-offs or margin compression erode equity cushions quickly.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
High Return on Equity
Sustained ROE near 27–31% indicates the firm consistently converts equity into earnings, reflecting operating leverage in its lending model and effective capital allocation. Over 2–6 months this supports continued ability to fund buybacks, dividends and investment without immediate reliance on external equity.
Read all positive factors
SLM (SLM) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Market Cap
$4.28B
Dividend Yield1.88%
Average Volume (3M)3.59M
Price to Earnings (P/E)3.4
Beta (1Y)0.95
Revenue Growth1.73%
EPS Growth28.93%
CountryUS
Employees1,710
SectorFinancial
Sector Strength70
IndustryFinancial - Credit Services
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)1.54
Shares Outstanding188,582,800
10 Day Avg. Volume3,308,620
30 Day Avg. Volume3,594,486
Financial Highlights & Ratios
PEG Ratio0.26
Price to Book (P/B)2.29
Price to Sales (P/S)1.80
P/FCF Ratio9.74
Enterprise Value/Market Cap1.24
Enterprise Value/Revenue1.72
Enterprise Value/Gross Profit3.18
Enterprise Value/Ebitda5.27
Forecast
1Y Price Target
$28.22Price Target Upside24.66% Upside
Rating ConsensusModerate Buy
Number of Analyst Covering9
EPS Forecast (FY)3.11
Revenue Forecast (FY)$1.90B
SLM Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
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 also offers retail deposit accounts, including certificates o...
How the Company Makes Money
SLM primarily makes money through a spread-based lending model and related fees. The company originates private student loans and earns interest income on those loans; its profitability is driven by net interest income (the difference between inte...
SLM Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Date:Apr 23, 2026
(Q1-2026)
| % Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:Jul 29, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Positive
The call presented a predominantly positive tone: management reported EPS and originations growth, achieved meaningful loan-sale gains and accelerated capital returns, improved new-origin credit metrics, and maintained strong liquidity and capital ratios. These positives were tempered by modestly higher net charge-offs, elevated noninterest expenses to fund growth (which may temporarily pressure efficiency), and some near-term NIM moderation and balance-sheet shrinkage due to incremental loan sales and buybacks. Management reiterated confident execution plans for the large Grad PLUS opportunity while acknowledging early-stage uncertainty and the need for more seasoning data.Positive Updates
Reserve Release and Provision Impact
Recorded an $11 million negative provision for Q1 driven primarily by a $131 million release of reserves associated with loan sales and loans held for sale, which favorably impacted reported results.
Negative Updates
Net Charge-Offs
Net charge-offs of $89 million for the quarter, described as modestly ahead of management's expectations and noted as a key credit datapoint to monitor.
Read all updates
Q1-2026 Updates
Positive
Negative
Reserve Release and Provision Impact
Recorded an $11 million negative provision for Q1 driven primarily by a $131 million release of reserves associated with loan sales and loans held for sale, which favorably impacted reported results.
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
SLM reaffirmed and tightened its 2026 outlook, now expecting diluted EPS of $3.10–$3.20 for the year, an increase that assumes full utilization of the $500M share‑repurchase authorization (including a $200M ASR and ~12M shares repurchased YTD, ~6% of shares at YE‑2025 at an average $21.50) and roughly $1B of incremental loan sales beyond the initial plan; the company noted Q1 performance that underpins the guidance—Q1 diluted EPS $1.54, originations $2.9B (up 5% YoY), net interest income $375M and NIM 5.29% (expected to moderate modestly as liquidity rises after the March loan sale), net charge‑offs $89M, a negative provision of $11M (including a $131M reserve release) with a reserve rate of 6.05%, Q1 noninterest expense $171M and efficiency ratio 30.6%—and pointed to $3.3B in Q1 loan sales that generated $146M of gains (including a $2B seasoned sale and $1.3B of new‑origination sales), liquidity of 21.2% of assets, total risk‑based capital 13.7% and CET1 12.4%; management reiterated other elements of 2026 guidance (originations growth, net charge‑offs, net interest expense) and expects to deploy partnerships/loan‑sale capacity to support growth.SLM Financial Statement Overview
Summary
Income Statement
64
Positive
Balance Sheet
58
Neutral
Cash Flow
49
Neutral
| Breakdown | TTM | Dec 2025 | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 | Dec 2022 | Dec 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Statement | ||||||
| Total Revenue | 3.08B | 3.11B | 2.99B | 2.84B | 2.37B | 2.41B |
| Gross Profit | 1.67B | 1.65B | 1.44B | 1.46B | 1.19B | 2.06B |
| EBITDA | 1.00B | 995.32M | 816.29M | 796.11M | 648.06M | 1.56B |
| Net Income | 748.26M | 744.85M | 608.33M | 581.39M | 469.01M | 1.16B |
Balance Sheet | ||||||
| Total Assets | 29.41B | 29.75B | 30.07B | 29.17B | 28.81B | 29.22B |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments | 5.75B | 4.29B | 6.69B | 6.56B | 6.96B | 6.85B |
| Total Debt | 6.17B | 5.86B | 6.44B | 5.23B | 5.24B | 5.93B |
| Total Liabilities | 26.97B | 27.29B | 27.91B | 27.29B | 27.08B | 27.07B |
| Stockholders Equity | 2.44B | 2.45B | 2.16B | 1.88B | 1.73B | 2.15B |
Cash Flow | ||||||
| Free Cash Flow | 645.61M | 575.52M | -329.39M | -144.64M | 4.99M | -49.52M |
| Operating Cash Flow | 645.61M | 575.52M | -329.39M | -144.64M | 4.99M | -49.52M |
| Investing Cash Flow | 1.09B | 0.00 | 675.99M | -12.46M | 1.08B | 2.60B |
| Financing Cash Flow | 306.02M | -500.21M | 228.16M | -316.23M | -854.89M | -2.62B |
SLM Technical Analysis
Positive
22.64
Price Trends
21.52
Positive
24.50
Negative
26.86
Negative
Market Momentum
0.27
Negative
61.33
Neutral
60.61
Neutral
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For SLM, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 22.64 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 21.29, above the 50-day MA of 21.52, and below the 200-day MA of 26.86, indicating a neutral trend. The MACD of 0.27 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 61.33 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 60.61 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for SLM.
SLM Risk Analysis
SLM disclosed 37 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. SLM reported the most risks in the "Finance & Corporate" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks
SLM Peers Comparison
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (68)
Name | Overall Rating | Market Cap | P/E Ratio | ROE | Dividend Yield | Revenue Growth | EPS Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
69 Neutral | $4.28B | 3.40 | 31.16% | 1.88% | 1.73% | 28.93% | |
68 Neutral | $18.00B | 11.42 | 9.92% | 3.81% | 9.73% | 1.22% | |
66 Neutral | $5.26B | 11.59 | 26.63% | ― | 7.16% | 84.53% | |
65 Neutral | $1.96B | 8.01 | 11.92% | ― | 17.38% | 237.98% | |
64 Neutral | $6.63B | 6.91 | 23.40% | 6.07% | 7.80% | 42.28% | |
54 Neutral | $5.10B | 11.27 | 11.96% | 0.87% | 6.65% | 135.72% | |
53 Neutral | $861.88M | 11.43 | -2.45% | 4.95% | -20.89% | -217.55% |
* Financial Sector Average
SLM
SLM
22.69
-8.18
-26.50%
CACC
Credit Acceptance
504.84
8.73
1.76%
NNI
Nelnet
141.66
35.90
33.95%
NAVI
Navient
9.17
-2.91
-24.10%
LC
LendingClub
17.06
6.76
65.63%
OMF
OneMain Holdings
56.59
11.24
24.79%
SLM Corporate Events
Business Operations and StrategyExecutive/Board Changes
SLM Names New Co-Presidents to Drive Strategic Growth
Positive
Apr 27, 2026
On April 22, 2026, SLM Corporation’s board appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Peter Graham and Executive Vice President and Chief Operational Officer Kerri Palmer as Co-Presidents, with Graham also serving as Chie...
Business Operations and StrategyM&A Transactions
SLM Explores $2 Billion Private Student Loan Sale
Neutral
Mar 12, 2026
On March 11, 2026, SLM Corporation Chief Executive Officer Jon Witter told investors at the RBC Capital Markets Global Financial Institutions Conference that its subsidiary, Sallie Mae Bank, has reached indicative terms for the potential sale of a...
Business Operations and StrategyStock Buyback
SLM Announces Major Accelerated Share Repurchase Agreement
Positive
Mar 9, 2026
On March 9, 2026, Sallie Mae entered into a $200 million accelerated share repurchase agreement with Goldman Sachs under its $500 million buyback authorization, following approximately $91 million of repurchases earlier in the year and lifting fir...
Business Operations and StrategyStock BuybackDividendsFinancial DisclosuresRegulatory Filings and Compliance
SLM Updates Investor Presentation Highlighting Strong 2025 Results
Positive
Feb 20, 2026
On or about February 20, 2026, SLM updated its “Investor Presentation as of December 31, 2025,” providing supplemental detail to its January 22, 2026 fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings disclosure. The materials highlight that p...
Stock BuybackFinancial Disclosures
SLM Highlights Strong 2025 Results and New Buyback Plan
Positive
Feb 13, 2026
On or about February 13, 2026, SLM Corporation published its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 investor presentation, detailing a 6% rise in full-year private education loan originations to $7.4 billion and a 4% increase in the fourth quarter vers...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Disclaimer
This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.