Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Bank of America reduced their target price on Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Navient from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Navient from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.58.

Navient Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NAVI opened at $13.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.59, a quick ratio of 9.49 and a current ratio of 9.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $14.20 and its 200-day moving average is $15.00. Navient has a 52-week low of $12.73 and a 52-week high of $17.86. The company has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96 and a beta of 1.43.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.26 by ($0.01). Navient had a net margin of 1.71% and a return on equity of 8.62%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Navient will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Navient news, EVP Stephen M. Hauber sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total value of $150,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 256,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,853,245. The trade was a 3.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 27.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Navient

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NAVI. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lifted its holdings in Navient by 27.8% during the 3rd 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Navient by 1.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,092,270 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,028,000 after acquiring an additional 19,606 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Navient by 0.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 892,828 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $13,919,000 after acquiring an additional 8,117 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Navient by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 467,232 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,210,000 after purchasing an additional 22,765 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Navient by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 343,341 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,563,000 after purchasing an additional 18,760 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.