Nelnet, Inc. $NNI Shares Bought by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Nelnet, Inc. (NYSE:NNI) by 3.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 121,232 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,754 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.33% of Nelnet worth $13,448,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NNI. KBC Group NV acquired a new stake in Nelnet in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Nelnet by 576.5% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Nelnet by 292.1% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the period. Man Group plc acquired a new stake in Nelnet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Nelnet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $228,000. 33.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised Nelnet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th.

Nelnet Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NNI opened at $129.2460 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 29.42 and a quick ratio of 29.41. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $122.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $115.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a PE ratio of 14.31 and a beta of 0.90. Nelnet, Inc. has a 1 year low of $98.15 and a 1 year high of $130.71.

Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The credit services provider reported $5.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $3.14. The firm had revenue of $540.61 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $376.40 million. Nelnet had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 14.86%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nelnet, Inc. will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nelnet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from Nelnet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Nelnet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.40%.

Nelnet declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 8th that authorizes the company to buyback 5,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Nelnet Profile

Nelnet, Inc engages in loan servicing, communications, education technology, services, and payment processing businesses worldwide. The Loan Servicing and Systems segment provides loan conversion, application processing, borrower updates, customer service, payment processing, due diligence procedures, funds management reconciliation, and claim processing services.