Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) has been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.5625.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Navient from $16.50 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen lowered shares of Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Navient from $12.50 to $15.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NAVI. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of Navient by 47.1% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 381,040 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,813,000 after purchasing an additional 122,061 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Navient by 69.4% during the fourth 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Navient by 39.0% during the fourth 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. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Navient by 19.0% during the fourth 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. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Navient by 149.5% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 51,900 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 31,100 shares during the period. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Navient Stock Performance

NASDAQ NAVI opened at $12.45 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.16 and a beta of 1.37. Navient has a fifty-two week low of $10.53 and a fifty-two week high of $16.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.52, a quick ratio of 9.94 and a current ratio of 9.94.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $156.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.20 million. Navient had a net margin of 0.89% and a return on equity of 4.08%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Navient will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

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.