Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and seven have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $16.10.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NAVI. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Navient from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Navient from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.00, for a total transaction of $160,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 393,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,297,776. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 27.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its position in shares of Navient by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,586,501 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $66,781,000 after buying an additional 858,890 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Navient in the fourth quarter valued at about $13,546,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Navient in the first quarter valued at about $4,813,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in shares of Navient by 90.9% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 386,379 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,723,000 after buying an additional 183,969 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in shares of Navient by 207.8% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 231,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,320,000 after buying an additional 156,086 shares during the last quarter. 97.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Navient Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ NAVI opened at $14.41 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 12.52, a current ratio of 12.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.38. The firm has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of 9.24 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $14.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.33. Navient has a 52 week low of $13.96 and a 52 week high of $19.69.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $163.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.04 million. Navient had a net margin of 3.93% and a return on equity of 12.09%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Navient will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.03%.

Navient Company Profile

Navient Corporation provides technology-enabled education finance and business processing solutions for education, health care, and government clients in the United States. It operates through three segments: Federal Education Loans, Consumer Lending, and Business Processing. The company owns Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loans that are insured or guaranteed by state or not-for-profit agencies; and performs servicing on its portfolios, as well as federal education loans held by other institutions.