Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Trims Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Target Price to $17.00

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) had its target price decreased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research note released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on NAVI. Stephens downgraded Navient from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and set a $16.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Navient from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays reiterated an underweight rating and set a $14.00 price target (down previously from $17.00) on shares of Navient in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Navient from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $17.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Navient from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Navient presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $16.30.

Navient Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NAVI traded down $0.02 on Thursday, reaching $15.74. The company had a trading volume of 189,318 shares, compared to its average volume of 919,943. Navient has a 52-week low of $14.10 and a 52-week high of $19.69. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a PE ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 12.52, a quick ratio of 13.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.38.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.05. Navient had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 3.93%. The firm had revenue of $163.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.04 million. As a group, analysts expect that Navient will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.

Insider Transactions at Navient

In related news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total value of $172,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 385,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,631,924.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 27.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Navient

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC boosted its position in Navient by 314.6% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,193 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,664 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Navient by 165.1% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 70,393 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,212,000 after acquiring an additional 43,843 shares during the period. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Navient by 277.8% during the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 1,511 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Navient by 367.7% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 6,795 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 5,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its stake in Navient by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 29,612 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,540 shares during the period. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Navient Company Profile

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.