Captrust Financial Advisors Takes $199,000 Position in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 14,982 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $199,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in NAVI. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Navient by 1,043.8% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 635,466 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,445,000 after purchasing an additional 579,909 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Navient by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,315,841 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,488,000 after buying an additional 423,013 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its stake in shares of Navient by 1,088.8% in the 4th quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 460,646 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,122,000 after buying an additional 421,898 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Navient by 69.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 667,372 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,869,000 after buying an additional 273,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Navient by 143.0% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 356,405 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,737,000 after buying an additional 209,744 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Navient Price Performance

Navient stock opened at $13.23 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.58. The stock has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.41 and a beta of 1.38. Navient Co. has a 12-month low of $10.53 and a 12-month high of $16.97. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $156.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $150.40 million. Navient had a return on equity of 6.69% and a net margin of 2.96%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Navient Co. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 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 4.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 128.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on NAVI. TD Securities boosted their price target on Navient from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen cut Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Navient from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Navient from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Navient has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.93.

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.