Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Stock Rating Upgraded by TD Cowen

TD Cowen upgraded shares of Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on NAVI. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America reduced their price target on 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. dropped their price objective on Navient from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Navient from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.50.

Navient Price Performance

Shares of Navient stock opened at $12.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35, a quick ratio of 9.49 and a current ratio of 9.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $13.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.39. Navient has a one year low of $12.35 and a one year high of $17.56.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts expect that Navient will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Navient’s payout ratio is 55.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NAVI. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in Navient by 43.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 119,317 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of Navient during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $258,000. EMC Capital Management increased its holdings in Navient by 2,193.7% during the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 20,276 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $269,000 after buying an additional 19,392 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Navient by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 374,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,982,000 after buying an additional 3,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in Navient by 156.5% during the fourth quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 247,650 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,291,000 after buying an additional 151,086 shares during the period. 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.