Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and six have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $15.78.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NAVI. TD Cowen cut their price target on Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com raised Navient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Navient from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Navient from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Navient from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th.

Navient Price Performance

Shares of NAVI opened at $14.20 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $15.54 and its 200-day moving average is $15.26. Navient has a one year low of $13.71 and a one year high of $19.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.58 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.59, a quick ratio of 9.99 and a current ratio of 9.49.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $1.20. Navient had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 1.71%. The business had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $150.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Navient will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.51%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is 92.75%.

Institutional Trading of Navient

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its position in Navient by 27.8% during the third quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,581,311 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $55,833,000 after buying an additional 779,973 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Navient by 12.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,582,928 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $23,047,000 after acquiring an additional 171,160 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Navient by 7.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 391,401 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,810,000 after acquiring an additional 27,997 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 183,969 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Navient by 0.9% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 322,820 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,700,000 after buying an additional 2,991 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

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.