Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Price Target Raised to $12.50

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) had its price target hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $11.00 to $12.50 in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. TD Securities raised their price objective on Navient from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Navient from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Navient from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.93.

Navient Stock Up 1.8 %

Navient stock opened at $12.76 on Thursday. Navient has a 52 week low of $10.53 and a 52 week high of $16.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $12.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.73. The company has a quick ratio of 9.49, a current ratio of 9.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.09. Navient had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 6.69%. The firm had revenue of $156.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $150.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Navient will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.02%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 128.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NAVI. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Navient by 815.0% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,443 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Navient by 2,663.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,096 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 7,803 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Navient by 55.9% in the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 10,608 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 3,802 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in Navient during the first quarter worth approximately $149,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Navient during the fourth quarter worth $167,000. 97.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Navient Company 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.