Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Strong Sell” from Brokerages

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) has been given an average rating of “Strong Sell” by the eleven analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $11.6250.

Several brokerages have commented on NAVI. Barclays set a $9.00 price objective on shares of Navient in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $12.00 price target on shares of Navient in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research downgraded Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Navient from $15.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th.

Navient Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NAVI opened at $8.11 on Friday. Navient has a 1 year low of $7.86 and a 1 year high of $16.07. The company has a market capitalization of $771.18 million, a PE ratio of -9.89 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $9.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.94, a current ratio of 9.01 and a quick ratio of 9.01.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The credit services provider reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.29). The business had revenue of $137.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.25 million. Navient had a positive return on equity of 4.70% and a negative net margin of 2.47%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.24) earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Navient will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is currently -78.05%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Navient

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NAVI. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Navient by 70.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 818 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its position in Navient by 79.0% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,525 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Navient in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Navient by 39.2% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,228 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of Navient by 3,045.4% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,127 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 4,964 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

About Navient

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ: NAVI) is a specialized provider of asset management and business processing solutions, with a primary focus on student loan servicing. Established in 2014 through the separation from Sallie Mae, Navient assumed responsibility for servicing federal and private education loans, positioning itself as one of the largest servicers of higher education debt in the United States.

The company’s core activities center on federal student loan servicing under contracts with the U.S.