Amundi Grows Position in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Amundi grew its stake in shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 186.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 38,069 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,779 shares during the quarter. Amundi’s holdings in Navient were worth $498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Navient by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,149,599 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $15,278,000 after purchasing an additional 10,788 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 19,606 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Navient by 0.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 8,117 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Navient by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 467,232 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,210,000 after acquiring an additional 22,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Navient by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 374,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,982,000 after acquiring an additional 3,445 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NAVI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com downgraded Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America decreased their target price on Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Navient from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.90.

Navient Price Performance

NAVI opened at $13.54 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.57. The company has a current ratio of 9.48, a quick ratio of 9.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35. The company has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.67 and a beta of 1.36. Navient Co. has a 12-month low of $12.73 and a 12-month high of $17.56.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by ($0.01). Navient had a return on equity of 6.69% and a net margin of 2.96%. Research analysts predict that Navient Co. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.73%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.17%.

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.