Sallie Mae (SLM)
Financials · consumer lending · NASDAQ
Sallie Mae is a leading provider of private student loans designed to help students and families achieve their higher education goals.
What Sallie Mae does
Sallie Mae is a financial services company specializing in private education loans. The company primarily provides funding solutions to students and families to help them finance higher education.
Themes: consumer lending, student loans, higher education finance
Fundamentals
- Price$26.46 as of 2026-08-21 close
- Market cap$5.0B as of 2026-08-21
- 1-year return-14.2% 2025-08-21 close $30.84 → 2026-08-21 close $26.46
- P/E7.12 as of 2026-08-24
- Net margin+19.7% as of 2026-08-24
- ROE+30.3% as of 2026-08-24
- Debt / equity2.36 as of 2026-08-24
- Revenue growth (YoY)+31.5% as of 2026-08-24
- Beta0.98 as of 2026-08-24
- Last reported earnings2026-07-23 SEC EDGAR Form 8-K (Item 2.02)
Dividend: yield +3.1%; at least 5 years of non-decreasing per-share dividends (SEC XBRL) — we do not hold the year before it, so the real streak may be longer.
How SLM compares in its sector
- price-to-earnings ratiobottom 10% 525 covered Financials peers, as of 2026-08-24
- net profit marginmiddle range 538 covered Financials peers, as of 2026-08-24
- operating marginmiddle range 534 covered Financials peers, as of 2026-08-24
- return on equitytop 10% 575 covered Financials peers, as of 2026-08-24
- indicated dividend yieldmiddle range 453 covered Financials peers, as of 2026-08-24
Position among covered Financials companies that report each metric (minimum 5 peers). A relative position within our covered catalog — not a valuation, quality, or investment judgment. A higher percentile is simply a higher value (for P/E, more expensive on earnings — never "better"). Informational only.
Top 10 scores & list membership
SLM is not currently in any published Top 10 list. Its scores are below.
Long-term score
60.9 #165 of 987 scored · #82 of 191 in Financials
Growth 91st (revenue growth year over year 31.5%) and profitability 78th (return on equity 30.3%, operating margin 26.7%); weakest is financial health (15th, debt to equity 2.4).
Short-term score
49.7 #809 of 1,704 scored · #137 of 277 in Financials
Setup 64th: no fresh 20-day breakout up or down; momentum 64th: its RSI momentum gauge is in neutral territory; weakest is volume and participation 5th: trading volume is unusually light — only about 49% of its 30-day average.
Scores as of 21 Aug 2026. Each bar is a percentile: how this company ranked against every company the score ranked, 0–100. A list is a published formula and its output, not a recommendation. Method version 2.
Dividend coverage (FY2025)
Covered by reported results. In FY2025, SLM's dividend was covered by reported results (earnings payout 14%). This describes past coverage, not a forecast.
- Earnings payout14% dividends / net income
- Free-cash-flow payoutnot assessable operating cash flow was not positive that year
Coverage derived from reported SEC EDGAR XBRL figures for FY2025 (dividends paid vs. net income and free cash flow, same fiscal year). This describes PAST coverage for one fiscal year — it does not predict whether a dividend will be maintained, raised, or cut, and a one-year payout ratio can be distorted by non-recurring items. Informational only — not financial advice.
How Sallie Mae looks technically
Sallie Mae (SLM) is trading 7.4% above its 200-day average, the long-term trend line — a longer-term uptrend. Its 50-day average crossed above its 200-day average about 8 trading days ago — a "golden cross", a bullish long-term signal. There is no clear trend right now — the price is choppy (ADX, a 0–100 trend-strength gauge, is 18, below the 25 that marks a real trend). Momentum is neutral — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 51, neither overbought (above 70) nor oversold (below 30). MACD, a trend-momentum gauge, turned bearish about 4 trading days ago (its momentum flipped negative). It made a new 20-day high about 6 trading days ago. It is 17.5% below its highest point of the past year. Trading volume is unusually light — only about 49% of its 30-day average.
Trend
8
| Distance from the 200-day | it is trading 7.4% above its 200-day average, the long-term trend line — a longer-term uptrend | +7.4% |
|---|---|---|
| 50-day moving average | its average price over the last 50 trading days — a short-term trend line — is $25.41 | $25.41 |
| 200-day moving average | its average price over the last 200 trading days — the long-term trend line — is $24.64 | $24.64 |
| Swing structure | its recent peaks and dips disagree — one of them is rising while the other is not, so there is no clean up or down pattern in the swings | mixed — one of the two is not confirming |
| Last swing turn | its last significant turn was a swing high 8 calendar days ago — the swings before that are what the structure reading is measured on | 8 sessions |
| Since the 50/200 cross | its 50-day average crossed above its 200-day average about 8 trading days ago — a "golden cross", a bullish long-term signal | 8 sessions |
| Above the 200-day after a dip | it recently dipped to its 200-day average (the long-term trend line) and has since climbed back above it — now about 7.4% above | +7.4% |
| Trend strength (14-day ADX) | there is no clear trend right now — the price is choppy (ADX, a 0–100 trend-strength gauge, is 18, below the 25 that marks a real trend) | 17.6 |
Momentum
3
| 14-day RSI | momentum is neutral — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 51, neither overbought (above 70) nor oversold (below 30) | 50.8 |
|---|---|---|
| Position in its 14-day range | it is trading in the lower half of its 14-day range ($25.78 to $28.27) — its "stochastic" reading is 27 out of 100, where 0 would mean closing exactly at the 14-session low and 100 exactly at the high. This measures WHERE the price sits inside its recent range, which is a different question from the RSI beside it: RSI is a momentum gauge, measuring how FAST the price has been moving, so a stock can drift quietly to the bottom of its range with an ordinary RSI, or fall sharply and still sit in the middle. It has been climbing within that range over the last few sessions. | 27.3 |
| Since the MACD crossed zero | MACD, a trend-momentum gauge, turned bearish about 4 trading days ago (its momentum flipped negative) | 4 sessions |
Range
12
| 52-week high | its highest closing price over the past year (about 252 trading days) was $32.07 | $32.07 |
|---|---|---|
| From the 52-week high | it is 17.5% below its 52-week high (its highest price of the past year) | -17.5% |
| Above the 52-week low | it is 48.9% above its 52-week low (its lowest price of the past year) | +48.9% |
| Below the 52-week high | it is 17.5% below its highest point of the past year | 17.5% |
| Since a 20-day breakout | it made a new 20-day high about 6 trading days ago | 6 sessions |
| Since a 55-day breakout | it made a new 55-day high about 6 trading days ago | 6 sessions |
| All-time high | its highest closing price on record is $34.97 (set on 2025-07-08) | $34.97 |
| Given back of the 52-week move | over the past year its closes ranged ($18.74 to $31.85), and it has recovered a bit over half of its fall from last year’s high — 59% of it. Chart-watchers call 61.8%-65% given back the "golden pocket" — for this company that is $26.84 to $27.26. It is watched widely enough that orders cluster there, which is the honest reason it matters; it is not a forecast. | 58.9% |
| From the all-time high | it is 24.3% below its all-time high | -24.3% |
| Nearest price level | it is trading 0.6% below a resistance level at $26.63 — a price it turned at three times since 2025-01-13, most recently on 2025-12-31. Since 2024-08-21 it has 7 such levels below the current price and 9 above. Levels like these describe where the price has reversed or paused before; they are not a forecast of where it will go. | +0.6% |
| All-time low | its lowest closing price on record is $1.11 (set on 2009-03-06) | $1.11 |
| Above the all-time low | it is 2280.5% above its all-time low | +2,281% |
Volatility
5
| Band width vs its own 6 months | day-to-day price swings are about average versus its own recent 6-month history | 39th percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Typical daily range | in a typical session it travels about $0.7609 between its high and its low — about 2.9% of its price. That is its "average true range" over the last 14 sessions, which also counts the distance from the previous close, so a day that opens well away from yesterday counts as the large move it was | $0.7609 |
| Bollinger bands (20-day, ±2σ) | most of its recent trading has stayed between about $25.09 and $28.57 — the "Bollinger bands", a range drawn two standard deviations either side of its 20-day average price, which widens when the stock gets more volatile and narrows when it settles | $25.09 – $26.83 – $28.57 |
| Typical daily range (% of price) | its price moves about 2.9% in a typical session — calmer than most companies we cover. This is the average gap between a session's high and low over the last 14 sessions, counting overnight moves, expressed against the current price so it can be compared with companies trading at any price | 2.9% |
| Stretch from the 200-day average | it is trading 2.4 daily ranges above its 200-day average price (7.4% above it in plain percentage terms) — a way of asking how far it has stretched from its own average in units of how far it normally moves in a day, so a calm company and a jumpy one can be compared on the same scale | 2.4 daily ranges above its 200-day average |
Volume
1
| Volume vs its 30-day average | trading volume is unusually light — only about 49% of its 30-day average | 0.49× |
|---|
Analyst
2
| Change in the average price target | analysts' average price target is unchanged from the prior reading | 0.0% |
|---|---|---|
| Change in the consensus rating | the analyst consensus rating is unchanged since the prior reading | unchanged |
Price gaps
2
| Gap at the open | it opened on 2026-08-21 0.9% above the previous session's close — an overnight gap, the part of the move that happened while the market was shut, and had not traded back through that level by the close | +0.9% |
|---|---|---|
| Gap filled | a 4.8% gap down opened on 2026-07-24 has been "filled" 20 sessions ago — price traded back through the level the gap left behind, and it closed again during the very session that opened it | 20 sessions ago |
Price streaks
1
| Closing streak | it closed higher in its latest session, after a session that did not close higher — a single up day rather than a run | 1 session up |
|---|
Relative strength
4
| vs market, 1 month | over the past 1 month this stock beat the market by 2.7 percentage points (the stock gained 5.1% while the market gained 2.3%) | +2.7% |
|---|---|---|
| vs market, 3 months | over the past 3 months this stock beat the market by 17.4 percentage points (the stock gained 20.5% while the market gained 3.1%) | +17.4% |
| vs market, 6 months | over the past 6 months this stock beat the market by 6.0 percentage points (the stock gained 17.1% while the market gained 11.1%) | +6.0% |
| vs market, 12 months | over the past 12 months this stock lagged the market by 34.7 percentage points (the stock lost 14.2% while the market gained 20.5%) | -34.7% |
Signal agreement
2
| Bullish technical signals | 4 of the 9 technical signals we can compute for it are currently in a bullish state: a "golden cross" — its 50-day average is above its 200-day, trading above its 200-day average, outperforming the market over 6 months, trading above the Ichimoku cloud — these describe past price behaviour, not a forecast | 4 of 9 |
|---|---|---|
| Bearish technical signals | 1 of the 9 technical signals we can compute for it is currently in a bearish state: MACD momentum is negative — these describe past price behaviour, not a forecast | 1 of 9 |
Trend (Ichimoku cloud)
1
| Vs the Ichimoku cloud | trading 9.0% above the Ichimoku cloud — a band drawn from where its own highs and lows sat up to 2026-07-16 and projected forward over today's price, the side traders read as an established uptrend, with the band below acting as the level that would have to give way. The band itself is moderate, spanning 2.8% of the share price. | +9.0% |
|---|
Volume-weighted price
2
| Vs this year’s average price paid | the price is 13% above the average price paid so far this year, so the typical buyer over that stretch is showing a gain. That average is $23.34 — a volume-weighted average of daily closes over 157 sessions, not a true tick-by-tick VWAP. | +13.4% |
|---|---|---|
| Vs the average paid since it last reported | the price is 1% above the average price paid since it last reported on 2026-07-23 (its 10-Q), so the typical buyer over that stretch is showing a gain. That average is $26.22 — a volume-weighted average of daily closes over 22 sessions, not a true tick-by-tick VWAP. | +0.9% |
Price levels it has turned at before
SLM last closed at $26.46 on 2026-08-21. Since 2024-08-21 it has turned at 7 prices below its last close and 9 above; the 3 nearest below and the 3 nearest above are listed, nearest first.
| Level | Side | Distance | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| $26.63 | Resistance | 0.6% above the last close | turned there three times · 2025-01-13 to 2025-12-31 |
| $25.97 | Support | 1.9% below the last close | turned there six times · 2024-12-10 to 2026-07-16 |
| $28.10 | Resistance | 6.2% above the last close | turned there 8 times · 2024-11-25 to 2026-08-13 |
| $24.70 | Support | 6.7% below the last close | turned there three times · 2024-11-07 to 2026-04-24 |
| $28.86 | Resistance | 9.1% above the last close | turned there twice · 2025-01-06 to 2025-11-13 |
| $23.76 | Support | 10.2% below the last close | turned there four times · 2024-10-16 to 2026-07-08 |
A level is a price this company reversed or paused at more than once — they describe past behaviour, not a forecast of where the price will go.
Wave structure
No Elliott-wave labelling currently fits its swings: the recent highs and lows do not satisfy the three rules a five-wave count has to obey, so there is no count to show rather than a count we are unsure about.
Read from daily closes as of 2026-08-21.
An Elliott-wave count describes the swings already printed and the level that would disprove it. It is not a forecast, a target, or advice.
Screens: Trading above the 200-day moving average · Recent golden cross (50-day crossed above 200-day) · Tested and reclaimed 200-day support · MACD just crossed bearish (12/26/9) · trendless / choppy (low ADX) · beating the market | Learn: moving average · golden cross · adx · rsi · macd · breakout · fifty two week high low · volume and relative volume
Based on daily closing prices as of 2026-08-21. Describes past price behavior only — informational, not financial advice.
Analyst consensus
- Consensus ratingBuy (2.09 mean, 1=Strong Buy…5=Strong Sell) — 11 analysts
- Mean price target$28.55 range $23.00 – $35.00; median $28.00
Analyst estimates, as of 2026-08-24. These are third-party analyst opinions and price targets, aggregated — not a recommendation, prediction, or advice from stocks-llm. Informational only.
Analyst EPS estimate for SLM
- Consensus EPS estimate$0.4014 next reporting period, as of 2026-08-24
Change over time is not available yet: it needs two readings of the same reporting period at least 30 days apart, and we have been recording these estimates since 2026-08-04. An estimate for a DIFFERENT quarter is not a revision, so a reading from before the last report is never compared with one after it.
The consensus estimate for the next reporting period, and how it has moved between readings of that SAME period. A change is measured only between readings estimating one period — when a company reports, the consensus moves to the next quarter and the two numbers are not comparable. Informational only, not a forecast and not advice.
Key risks (from latest filing)
["exposure to credit losses in the education loan portfolio","regulatory changes affecting student lending programs and interest rates","dependence on economic conditions affecting student and family repayment capacity"]
What changed in the latest 10-Q
AI-assisted comparison of SLM's 10-Q filed 2026-04-23 against the prior one filed 2025-10-23.
Management's Discussion & Analysis (MD&A)
- Added:
- Reference to 2025 Form 10-K filed February 19, 2026 (newer filing)
- 2026 guidance mentioned in forward-looking statements (newer filing)
- Credit outlook reference added to forward-looking statements (newer filing)
- Reference to 'current federal administration' in risk factors (newer filing)
- AI and artificial intelligence risks explicitly mentioned in risk factors (newer filing)
- References to tariffs, trade wars, wars, immigration, and student visa policies as specific risk factors (newer filing)
- Stagflation explicitly mentioned as economic condition risk (newer filing)
- Strategic partnership references in loan sales context (newer filing)
- Removed:
- Reference to 2024 Form 10-K filed February 20, 2025 (older filing)
- 2025 guidance mentioned in forward-looking statements (older filing)
- Specific reference to 'Trump administration' (older filing)
- Reference to 'sever weather events' [sic] - appears corrected to 'severe weather events' but substantively similar (older filing)
- Reference to 'new limits on, or reductions in, funding that certain educational institutions receive from the Federal government' (older filing)
- Separate mention of 'our funding costs and availability' (older filing)
- Separate mention of 'our credit ratings' (older filing)
- Separate reference to 'cyberattacks' and 'cybersecurity incidents' structure (older filing)
- Reworded:
- Changed from 'expectations and/or statements' to 'expectations and/or statements' - minor restructuring in forward-looking statement definition (newer vs older)
- Changed 'impact of related changes' to 'changes in' regarding accounting estimates (newer phrasing)
- Changed 'our ability to timely develop' to 'the ability to timely develop' and 'our acceptance' to general structure (newer filing uses more corporate language)
- Changed from 'and the educational credit marketplace' construction to similar but restructured risk factor ordering (newer filing)
- Expanded risk factor language from 'changes in law and regulations' to more comprehensive 'changes in laws, regulations, and supervisory expectations' (newer filing)
- Changed 'changes in our funding costs' to 'changes in funding costs' - shift from first-person to third-person corporate reference (newer filing)
- Reordered and expanded economic risk factors from 'general economic conditions' to comprehensive list including inflation, stagflation, recession, labor market shifts, government policies (newer filing)
- Changed 'put undue reliance' to 'place undue reliance' in forward-looking statement disclaimer (newer filing)
- Changed 'We do not undertake' to 'The Company does not undertake' in non-update obligation statement (newer filing)
- Notes:
- Newer filing covers Q1 2026 (three months ended March 31, 2026) while older filing covers Q3 2025 (three months ended September 30, 2025), making period-specific comparisons non-comparable
- Financial tables in newer filing appear truncated (ends mid-row at 'Ending Private Education Loans, net $ 19,886,735 $ 21,091,2'), preventing full financial metric comparison
- Older filing text also appears truncated at the Overview section, limiting full MD&A comparison
- References to 'current federal administration' in newer filing are general and do not specifically identify which administration by name, whereas older filing explicitly referenced 'Trump administration'
Risk Factors
The two filings could not be meaningfully compared for this section.
AI-assisted comparison of two SEC filing sections. It describes wording and theme changes only, makes no materiality, legal, or investment judgement, and is not financial advice. Informational only — not financial advice.
Insider activity (SEC Form 4)
No open-market insider purchases or sales are on record for SLM — recent Form 4 activity was compensation-related (awards, option exercises, or tax withholding), not open-market buying or selling.
View full insider trading history → View SEC Form 3/4/5 filingsOnly open-market purchases (SEC code P) and sales (code S) are counted here. Option exercises, vesting/awards, gifts, and shares withheld for taxes are excluded — they are compensation or mechanical, not open-market conviction. Sales may be planned and non-discretionary (e.g. a Rule 10b5-1 plan) and are not necessarily bearish; open-market buying is not a recommendation to buy. Informational only — not financial advice.
Institutional ownership (13F)
6 institutional 13F filers reported holding SLM as of 2026-03-31 (quarter-end position, filed within 45 days).
- Distinct 13F filers 6
- Reported shares held 47,826,236
- Reported value $1,023,959,694
reported quarterly holdings change (2025-12-31 → 2026-03-31): 0 new, 3 increased, 3 decreased, 0 exited. Change counts cover only managers that filed 13F reports in BOTH quarters, derived between two quarter-end snapshots — not same-day trades; a single manager is never said to have "bought" or "sold".
Institutional holdings are quarter-end long positions reported on SEC Form 13F-HR, filed up to 45 days after the quarter ends — they are delayed, are not real-time trades, exclude short positions and most non-US securities, and are not investment advice. Any increase/decrease is a reported change between two quarterly snapshots, not a same-day purchase or sale. These are quarter-end snapshots from the 13F filings on SEC EDGAR, filed within 45 days — not real-time, and any change is a difference between two quarterly reports, not a same-day trade. Informational only — not financial advice.
Short interest (FINRA)
SLM had 20,262,204 shares of reported short interest as of the 2026-07-31 FINRA settlement date (delayed, bi-monthly; not real-time).
SLM had 10.8% of its shares outstanding sold short as of the 2026-07-31 FINRA settlement date (percent of FLOAT would be higher — float is not disclosed in the source). FINRA reported 6.59 days to cover at the same settlement.
- Reported short interest (shares) 20,262,204
- Short interest (% of shares outstanding) 10.8%
- Prior settlement (shares) 19,102,650
- Reported change 6.07%
- Days to cover (reported) 6.59
Reported to FINRA as of the 2026-07-31 settlement date. Short interest is reported to FINRA and published on a delayed, bi-monthly schedule (as of a settlement date, disseminated roughly eight business days later) — it is NOT real-time, does not cover every venue or all US trading, and is not a short-squeeze prediction or investment advice. Days-to-cover is the value FINRA reports; percent of float is not shown because the source file carries no share-count denominator — where a percent appears it is of shares OUTSTANDING, the larger base, and is therefore a floor on percent of float. Informational only — not financial advice.
Competitors & peers
- Discover Financial Services (DFS)
- Citizens Financial Group (CFG)
- Navient (NAVI)
- SoFi Technologies (SOFI)
AI-enriched competitor set. Linked names are companies covered by stocks-llm; other named peers are shown for reference only.
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Frequently asked questions
What does Sallie Mae (SLM) do?
Sallie Mae is a financial services company specializing in private education loans. The company primarily provides funding solutions to students and families to help them finance higher education.
What sector is Sallie Mae (SLM) in?
Sallie Mae (SLM) is classified in the Financials sector. Its industry is consumer lending. It trades on NASDAQ.
Does SLM pay a dividend?
Yes — Sallie Mae (SLM) pays a dividend, with an indicated yield of about 3.06% and at least 5 years of non-decreasing per-share dividends (SEC EDGAR XBRL) — we do not hold the year before it, so the real streak may be longer (market data, as of 2026-08-24). Informational only — not financial advice.
Who are Sallie Mae's (SLM) competitors?
Notable peers of Sallie Mae (SLM) include Discover Financial Services, Citizens Financial Group, Navient and SoFi Technologies. This peer set is informational only — not financial advice.
Is Sallie Mae (SLM) overbought or oversold right now?
Sallie Mae (SLM) is currently neither overbought nor oversold — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 51, in the neutral middle (as of 2026-08-21). RSI describes recent price momentum, not a forecast — informational only, not financial advice.
Where does stocks-llm's data on SLM come from?
Fundamentals and prices come from market data, as of 2026-08-24; company filings and profile facts come from SEC EDGAR. All figures are delayed daily-close data shown with their as-of date — informational only, not financial advice.
Fundamentals: market data, as of 2026-08-24. Filings: SEC EDGAR. Prices are delayed daily-close data.
Last updated 2026-08-21.
Informational only — NOT financial advice. All figures are delayed daily-close data from SEC EDGAR & market data, shown with their as-of date.