Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $13.00.

A number of research firms recently commented on NAVI. TD Cowen upgraded Navient from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Seaport Res Ptn raised Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Navient from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st.

Navient Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NAVI opened at $10.76 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $13.33 and a 200-day moving average of $14.22. Navient has a one year low of $10.53 and a one year high of $17.28. The stock has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.28 and a beta of 1.24. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $0.25 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Navient will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Navient

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Navient by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,822,583 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $24,222,000 after buying an additional 109,229 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Navient by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,567,466 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $20,832,000 after acquiring an additional 199,937 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Navient by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,315,841 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,488,000 after purchasing an additional 423,013 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Navient by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,149,599 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $15,278,000 after purchasing an additional 10,788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 worth $17,028,000 after purchasing an additional 19,606 shares during the last quarter. 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.