Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold Rating

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Barclays set a $9.00 price target on Navient in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research cut Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $12.00 price target on shares of Navient in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and a consensus price target of $11.63.

Navient Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:NAVI opened at $8.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.94, a current ratio of 9.01 and a quick ratio of 9.01. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $10.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $789.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.12 and a beta of 1.33. Navient has a 1 year low of $8.00 and a 1 year high of $16.07.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Navient by 3.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,021,710 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $28,506,000 after acquiring an additional 66,814 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in Navient by 44.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 696,720 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,162,000 after purchasing an additional 215,103 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Navient by 142.5% during the 2nd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 24,710 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $348,000 after buying an additional 14,519 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Navient by 4,721.5% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 116,583 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,533,000 after acquiring an additional 114,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new position in shares of Navient during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $288,000. 97.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.