Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 1,949 Shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Natixis Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,243 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,949 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Navient were worth $216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NAVI. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Navient by 0.9% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Navient by 1.8% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Navient by 0.9% in the 3rd 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 boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 22,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in Navient by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 395,948 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,262,000 after acquiring an additional 119,317 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NAVI. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Navient presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.90.

Navient Stock Performance

NASDAQ NAVI opened at $12.82 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of 11.05 and a beta of 1.36. Navient Co. has a 1 year low of $12.68 and a 1 year high of $17.56. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35, a current ratio of 9.48 and a quick ratio of 9.49.

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

Navient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.99%. Navient’s payout ratio is 55.17%.

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.