Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) Shares Sold by Nisa Investment Advisors LLC

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 46.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,830 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 8,650 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Navient were worth $183,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Navient during the fourth quarter worth about $2,441,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Navient by 7.4% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,138,526 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $19,605,000 after acquiring an additional 78,186 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Navient by 21.9% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 196,938 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,395,000 after acquiring an additional 35,386 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in Navient by 207.8% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 231,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,320,000 after acquiring an additional 156,086 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Navient by 14.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 704,608 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $12,133,000 after acquiring an additional 89,220 shares during the last quarter. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Navient from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $14.00 target price (down previously from $17.00) on shares of Navient in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Stephens lowered Navient from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $16.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. TD Cowen lowered Navient from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.67.

Navient Price Performance

NAVI stock opened at $16.21 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 13.63, a current ratio of 13.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.35. Navient Co. has a 52-week low of $14.10 and a 52-week high of $19.69. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $16.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.13. The company has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a PE ratio of 9.11 and a beta of 1.38.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.07). Navient had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 4.72%. The business had revenue of $193.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $210.76 million. Analysts predict that Navient Co. will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of Navient stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total value of $172,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 385,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,631,924.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 26.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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 on its portfolios, as well as federal education loans held by other institutions.