Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) Downgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning.

Nelnet Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE NNI opened at $95.33 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.07 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67, a current ratio of 35.15 and a quick ratio of 35.15. Nelnet has a 1 year low of $81.67 and a 1 year high of $101.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $90.66 and a 200 day moving average of $87.92.

Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The credit services provider reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($1.19). Nelnet had a return on equity of 3.81% and a net margin of 4.43%. The company had revenue of $260.66 million during the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Nelnet will post 5.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nelnet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Nelnet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nelnet

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its position in Nelnet by 1.4% in the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 1,206,546 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $114,200,000 after purchasing an additional 16,820 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Nelnet by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,202 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Nelnet by 120.2% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 29,782 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,628,000 after purchasing an additional 16,257 shares during the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Nelnet by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 27,315 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,410,000 after acquiring an additional 781 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Nelnet by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,117 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.51% of the company’s stock.

About Nelnet

Nelnet, Inc engages in loan servicing, communications, education technology, services, and payment processing businesses worldwide. The Loan Servicing and Systems segment provides loan conversion, application processing, borrower updates, customer service, payment processing, due diligence procedures, funds management reconciliation, and claim processing services.