Shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI – Get Rating) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $16.39.
Several research firms recently weighed in on NAVI. Credit Suisse Group cut their price target on shares of Navient to $14.00 in a report on Thursday, October 27th. Morgan Stanley raised Navient from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 1st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Navient from $24.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 18th. Compass Point cut their price target on Navient to $12.50 in a research note on Tuesday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Navient from $13.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 13th.
Institutional Trading of Navient
Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Navient by 172.2% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 28,320 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 17,916 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky purchased a new stake in shares of Navient during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $337,000. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC raised its holdings in Navient by 290.1% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 330,647 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,857,000 after buying an additional 245,897 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Navient by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 17,403 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 1,241 shares during the period. Finally, Pathstone Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Navient by 80.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 29,034 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $426,000 after buying an additional 12,933 shares during the period. 93.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Navient Stock Down 1.5 %
Shares of Navient stock opened at $16.73 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 1.56. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $15.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.20. Navient has a 52-week low of $12.45 and a 52-week high of $22.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 21.53, a quick ratio of 12.32 and a current ratio of 12.32.
Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 25th. The credit services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $247.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $279.19 million. Navient had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 10.97%. Equities research analysts forecast that Navient will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.
Navient Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 1st. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.93%.
About Navient
Navient Corporation provides education loan management and business processing solutions for education, healthcare, and government clients at the federal, state, and local levels in the United States. It operates through three segments: Federal Education Loans, Consumer Lending, and Business Processing.