Short Interest in Nelnet, Inc. (NYSE:NNI) Increases By 22.3%

Nelnet, Inc. (NYSE:NNI) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 275,834 shares, an increase of 22.3% from the February 12th total of 225,557 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 110,936 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 110,936 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Institutional Trading of Nelnet

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Nelnet by 20.9% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,575 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,485 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Nelnet by 2.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 11,694 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Nelnet by 1,246.0% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,365 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 3,115 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Nelnet by 7.2% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 58,415 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,480,000 after purchasing an additional 3,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in Nelnet by 583.3% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 16,023 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,777,000 after purchasing an additional 13,678 shares during the period. 33.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Nelnet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Nelnet in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.00.

Nelnet Stock Down 0.4%

Nelnet stock opened at $128.03 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 28.27 and a current ratio of 28.27. Nelnet has a one year low of $98.15 and a one year high of $142.87. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $130.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 0.82.

Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The credit services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Nelnet had a net margin of 18.99% and a return on equity of 12.43%. The firm had revenue of $390.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $382.00 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Nelnet will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Nelnet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Nelnet’s payout ratio is currently 11.21%.

Nelnet Company Profile

Nelnet, Inc (NYSE: NNI) is a diversified education services company founded in 1978 and headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. Originally established as the National Education Loan Network by Michael S. Dunlap, the company has grown into a prominent provider of student loan servicing and education finance solutions in the United States.

At the core of Nelnet’s business is student loan servicing, where it administers and manages federal and private education loans on behalf of borrowers and lending partners.