Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $15.50.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Navient from $15.50 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upped their target price on Navient from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Navient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st.

Navient Price Performance

Shares of NAVI stock opened at $13.52 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $15.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.59 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.59, a quick ratio of 9.49 and a current ratio of 9.49. Navient has a 52-week low of $13.19 and a 52-week high of $19.25.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $1.20. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $150.04 million. Navient had a net margin of 1.71% and a return on equity of 8.62%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Navient will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.73%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Navient

In related news, EVP Stephen M. Hauber sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $150,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 256,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,853,245. This represents a 3.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 27.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Navient

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Navient by 59.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 284,130 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,429,000 after buying an additional 105,454 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Navient in the 3rd quarter valued at $256,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Navient by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 892,828 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $13,919,000 after acquiring an additional 8,117 shares during the last quarter. Stadium Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Navient by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stadium Capital Management LLC now owns 340,170 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,303,000 after acquiring an additional 21,385 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in Navient by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 14,173 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 1,587 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

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.