Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Sees Large Volume Increase – What’s Next?

Shares of Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) saw strong trading volume on Monday . 1,721,943 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 127% from the previous session’s volume of 758,771 shares.The stock last traded at $15.75 and had previously closed at $14.82.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NAVI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Navient from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Navient from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. TD Securities upped their target price on Navient from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen cut Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Navient from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Navient presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.93.

Navient Stock Up 5.4%

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.23 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 9.88, a quick ratio of 9.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $13.51 and its 200-day moving average is $13.27.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $156.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $150.40 million. Navient had a net margin of 1.37% and a return on equity of 5.20%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Navient Corporation will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. Navient’s payout ratio is 128.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Navient by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 44,052 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $585,000 after buying an additional 823 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its holdings in Navient by 5.6% during the first quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 18,100 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Navient by 15.7% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 7,303 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 993 shares during the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Navient by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 12,877 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,804 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Navient by 815.0% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,443 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

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.