Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) have been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the ten brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $16.30.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Navient in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $19.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com cut Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Stephens cut Navient from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $16.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Navient from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Navient news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of Navient stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total transaction of $172,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 385,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,631,924.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 27.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Navient in the fourth quarter worth about $2,441,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Navient in the fourth quarter worth about $13,546,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Navient by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,138,526 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $19,605,000 after purchasing an additional 78,186 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Navient by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 196,938 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,395,000 after purchasing an additional 35,386 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in Navient by 207.8% during the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 231,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,320,000 after purchasing an additional 156,086 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Navient Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NAVI opened at $15.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.38, a current ratio of 12.52 and a quick ratio of 13.63. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.10. Navient has a 1 year low of $14.10 and a 1 year high of $19.69. The company has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.38.

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

Navient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.

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.