Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters, and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Our common stock is listed and trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market (“Nasdaq”) under the symbol SLM. As of January 31, 2025, there were 210,423,462 shares of our common stock outstanding and approximately 239 holders of record.
We paid quarterly cash dividends on our common stock of $0.11 per share for the first, second, and third quarters of 2024, respectively, and $0.13 per share for the fourth quarter of 2024. We paid quarterly cash dividends on our common stock of $0.11 per share for each quarter of 2023 and 2022. Common stock dividend declarations are subject to determination by, and the discretion of, our Board of Directors. We may change our common stock dividend policy at any time. See Item 1A. “Risk Factors — GENERAL RISKS” for possible limitations on the payments of our dividends.
The information contained in the definitive proxy statement on Schedule 14A for our 2025 annual meeting of shareholders (the “2025 Proxy Statement”), including information appearing in the section titled “Equity Plan Compensation Information”, is incorporated herein by reference.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
The following table provides information relating to our purchase of shares of our common stock in the three months ended December 31, 2024.
(Dollars in thousands,
except per share data) Total Number
of Shares
Purchased (1)
Average Price
Paid per
Share
Total Number of
Shares Purchased
as Part of Publicly
Announced Plans
or Programs (2)(3)
Approximate Dollar Value
of Shares That May Yet Be
Purchased Under Publicly Announced Plans or
Programs
at December 31, 2024 (2)
Period:
October 1 - October 31, 2024 1,582,502 $ 22.90 1,569,378 $412,000
November 1 - November 30, 2024 433,180 $ 23.58 431,330 $402,000
December 1 - December 31, 2024 8,590 $ 27.13 — $402,000
Total fourth-quarter 2024 2,024,272 $ 23.07 2,000,708
(1) The total number of shares purchased includes: (i) shares purchased under the stock repurchase programs discussed herein, and (ii) 23,564 shares of our common stock tendered to us to satisfy the exercise price in connection with cashless exercises of stock options, and tax withholding obligations in connection with exercises of stock options and vesting of restricted stock, restricted stock units, and performance stock units.
(2) As of December 31, 2024, we had $402 million of capacity remaining under the 2024 Share Repurchase Program. The 2024 Share Repurchase Program was announced on January 24, 2024, with an effective date of January 26, 2024, and expires on February 6, 2026. See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 12, “Stockholders’ Equity” in this Form 10-K for further discussion.
(3) In the fourth quarter of 2024, we repurchased 2.0 million common shares under our 10b5-1 trading plans. See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 12, “Stockholders’ Equity” in this Form 10-K for further discussion.
2024 Form 10-K — SLM CORPORATION 42
The closing price of our common stock on Nasdaq on December 31, 2024 was $27.58.
In January 2020, we announced a share repurchase program of up to $600 million of common stock. This program expired in January 2022. In January 2021, we announced an additional share repurchase program of up to $1.25 billion of common stock (the “2021 Share Repurchase Program”) that expired in January 2023. In October 2021, our Board of Directors approved a $250 million increase in the amount of common stock that could be repurchased under the 2021 Share Repurchase Program, resulting in a total authorization of $1.5 billion of common stock. In January 2022, we announced a share repurchase program of up to $1.25 billion of common stock that expired in January 2024.
In January 2024, we announced a new share repurchase program of up to $650 million of common stock (the “2024 Share Repurchase Program”). The program expires in February 2026. We had $402 million of capacity remaining under the 2024 Share Repurchase Program as of December 31, 2024.
Under the above share repurchase programs, repurchases could occur from time to time and through a variety of methods, including open market repurchases, repurchases effected through Rule 10b5-1 trading plans, negotiated block purchases, accelerated share repurchase programs, tender offers, or other similar transactions. The timing and volume of any repurchases are subject to market conditions, and there can be no guarantee that the Company will repurchase up to the limit of the 2024 Share Repurchase Program.
Stock Performance
The following graph compares the five-year cumulative total returns of SLM Corporation, the S&P Supercomposite Consumer Finance Sub-Industry Index, and the S&P 400 Regional Bank Sub-Industry Index.
This graph assumes $100 was invested in the stock or the relevant index on December 31, 2019, and also assumes the reinvestment of dividends through December 31, 2024.
Five-Year Cumulative Total Stockholder Return
Company/Index 12/31/19 12/31/20 12/31/21 12/31/22 12/31/23 12/31/24
SLM Corporation $100.0 $140.9 $226.1 $195.7 $232.2 $342.0
S&P Supercomposite Consumer Finance Sub-Industry Index 100.0 100.8 137.7 110.9 142.5 215.2
S&P 400 Regional Bank Sub-Industry Index 100.0 91.4 129.5 124.1 123.0 143.9
Source: FactSet data and analytics
2024 Form 10-K — SLM CORPORATION 43
Item 6. [Reserved]
2024 Form 10-K — SLM CORPORATION 44