Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $10.40 Million Stake in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 38.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 559,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 156,726 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.46% of Navient worth $10,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NAVI. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Navient during the first quarter worth approximately $236,000. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Navient during the first quarter worth $382,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Navient by 36.6% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 180,855 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,082,000 after buying an additional 48,483 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in Navient by 5.6% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 56,439 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $962,000 after buying an additional 3,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in Navient by 22.9% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,641,958 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,019,000 after buying an additional 491,644 shares in the last quarter. 94.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.99, for a total transaction of $169,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 395,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,716,656.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 26.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NAVI has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Navient from $19.50 to $18.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 17th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Navient from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 26th. Compass Point reduced their price objective on Navient from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Stephens reduced their price objective on Navient from $20.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Navient in a research note on Wednesday, November 15th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $17.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.23.

Navient Stock Up 0.4 %

NAVI stock opened at $16.62 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $16.98 and a 200-day moving average of $17.32. The company has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.95, a quick ratio of 12.81 and a current ratio of 12.81. Navient Co. has a fifty-two week low of $14.10 and a fifty-two week high of $19.69.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 25th. The credit services provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $280.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $210.90 million. Navient had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 7.49%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Navient Co. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 30th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.85%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.78%.

Navient 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 and asset recovery services on its own loan portfolio, as well as federal education loans held by other institutions.