Xponance Inc. Lowers Holdings in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Xponance Inc. decreased its position in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,898 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,168 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Navient were worth $203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Navient by 314.6% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,193 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,664 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Navient by 13.1% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,236 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 607 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Navient by 367.7% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 6,795 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 5,342 shares during the period. CI Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Navient by 5,209.1% during the third quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 9,291 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 9,116 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Navient by 1,762.0% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,310 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $173,000 after buying an additional 8,810 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on NAVI shares. Stephens lowered Navient from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $16.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Barclays lowered their target price on Navient from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Citigroup upped their target price on Navient from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Navient from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned 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 $16.10.

Navient Price Performance

NASDAQ NAVI opened at $15.72 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.38, a current ratio of 12.52 and a quick ratio of 13.63. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $16.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.08. Navient Co. has a 1 year low of $14.10 and a 1 year high of $19.69. The company has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 1.38.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.05. Navient had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 3.93%. The firm had revenue of $163.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.04 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Navient Co. will post 1.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Navient news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total transaction of $172,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 385,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,631,924.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 27.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Navient

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.