SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

01 Apr 2026, 06:23 by Tristan Rich · The Markets Daily

SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM – Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 21,713,822 shares, an increase of 21.5% from the February 26th total of 17,872,341 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,615,002 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days. Currently, 11.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLM

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in SLM by 31.3% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 53,673 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,452,000 after acquiring an additional 12,793 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 139.5% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 160,272 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,337,000 after purchasing an additional 93,364 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of SLM by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,649 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 669 shares during the period. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in shares of SLM in the third quarter worth $69,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP raised its stake in SLM by 616.6% in the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 109,485 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,031,000 after purchasing an additional 94,207 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on SLM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Compass Point raised shares of SLM from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday. Zacks Research raised shares of SLM from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of SLM from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $25.00 target price (down from $29.00) on shares of SLM in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SLM has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.50.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on SLM

SLM Price Performance

NASDAQ:SLM opened at $21.41 on Wednesday. SLM has a 52 week low of $17.77 and a 52 week high of $34.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.84. The firm has a market cap of $4.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.18.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.17. SLM had a net margin of 26.04% and a return on equity of 34.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $383.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. SLM has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700-2.800 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that SLM will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is 14.99%.

SLM Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.