Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) have received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $15.75.

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Navient from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Navient in a research report on Monday, September 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $17.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Navient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st.

Insider Activity at Navient

In other Navient news, EVP Stephen M. Hauber sold 10,000 shares of Navient stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total value of $150,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 256,883 shares in the company, valued at $3,853,245. The trade was a 3.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 27.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Navient

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Navient in the second quarter valued at about $50,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Navient by 47.0% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,355 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Navient by 22.1% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,797 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Navient in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $87,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Navient during the third quarter worth $95,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Navient Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ NAVI opened at $15.58 on Friday. Navient has a 1 year low of $13.71 and a 1 year high of $19.68. The company has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.58 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.59, a current ratio of 9.49 and a quick ratio of 9.49.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $1.20. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $150.04 million. Navient had a net margin of 1.71% and a return on equity of 8.62%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Navient will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.75%.

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.