Victory Capital Management Inc. Acquires 4,996 Shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 311,259 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,996 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.29% of Navient worth $4,137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Navient in the third quarter valued at about $1,398,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Navient in the third quarter valued at about $511,000. EMC Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Navient by 2,193.7% in the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 20,276 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 19,392 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Navient in the third quarter valued at about $714,000. Finally, 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 valued at $4,429,000 after acquiring an additional 105,454 shares in the last quarter. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Navient Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of NAVI opened at $13.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35, a quick ratio of 9.49 and a current ratio of 9.48. Navient Co. has a one year low of $12.73 and a one year high of $17.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $13.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.64.

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

Navient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Navient’s payout ratio is 55.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on NAVI. StockNews.com downgraded Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America cut their target price on Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.90.

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.