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

Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $15.78.

Several equities analysts recently commented on NAVI shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Navient from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Navient in a research report on Monday, September 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $17.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Navient in the first quarter valued at $36,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Navient in the second quarter valued at $50,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Navient by 22.1% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,797 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 869 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Navient by 23.1% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,245 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Navient during the 2nd quarter valued at $121,000. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Navient Stock Performance

Shares of NAVI opened at $15.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.30, a quick ratio of 9.99 and a current ratio of 9.99. The company has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.90 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.48. Navient has a 1 year low of $13.95 and a 1 year high of $19.68.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $157.27 million. Navient had a net margin of 3.41% and a return on equity of 11.06%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Navient will post 1.43 EPS for the current year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Navient’s payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

About Navient

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.