Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $9.49, but opened at $8.79. Navient shares last traded at $8.8360, with a volume of 382,255 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on NAVI shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Navient from $9.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Navient from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Navient from $12.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Navient in a research report on Monday, April 20th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $7.00 target price for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $9.14.

Navient Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 7.67, a current ratio of 7.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.49. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $8.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $841.49 million, a P/E ratio of -14.09 and a beta of 1.18.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.09. Navient had a negative net margin of 1.94% and a positive return on equity of 4.39%. The business had revenue of $150.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $142.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.20 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Navient Corporation will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.1%. Navient’s payout ratio is currently -101.59%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Navient

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NAVI. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Navient by 325.6% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,005 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 3,829 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Navient by 552.6% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 4,855 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 4,111 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Navient during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Navient by 39.2% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,228 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,191 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Navient by 3,045.4% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,127 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 4,964 shares during the last quarter. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Navient

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ: NAVI) is a specialized provider of asset management and business processing solutions, with a primary focus on student loan servicing. Established in 2014 through the separation from Sallie Mae, Navient assumed responsibility for servicing federal and private education loans, positioning itself as one of the largest servicers of higher education debt in the United States.

The company’s core activities center on federal student loan servicing under contracts with the U.S.