Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the eight analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $12.93.

NAVI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Navient from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. TD Cowen lowered Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Navient from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Navient from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities raised their price target on Navient from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Navient by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 395,948 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,262,000 after acquiring an additional 119,317 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Navient during the 4th quarter valued at $258,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Navient by 69.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 667,372 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,869,000 after purchasing an additional 273,483 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in Navient by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 130,046 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,728,000 after purchasing an additional 36,498 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Navient by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 192,867 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,563,000 after purchasing an additional 30,798 shares during the period. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Navient Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ NAVI opened at $13.16 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.32 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 9.88, a quick ratio of 9.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.56. Navient has a 12-month low of $10.53 and a 12-month high of $16.97. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.35.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.09. Navient had a return on equity of 5.20% and a net margin of 1.37%. The company had revenue of $156.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $150.40 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Navient will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.86%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 128.00%.

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.