Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) Receives $16.90 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and six have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $16.90.

NAVI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stephens lowered shares of Navient from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Navient from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Navient from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of Navient from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th.

Navient Stock Performance

Shares of NAVI opened at $17.40 on Monday. Navient has a one year low of $14.10 and a one year high of $19.69. The company has a 50-day moving average of $16.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.17. The stock has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.78 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.35, a current ratio of 13.64 and a quick ratio of 13.63.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $193.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $210.76 million. Navient had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 4.72%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Navient will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Navient’s payout ratio is 35.96%.

Insider Transactions at Navient

In other Navient news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total transaction of $172,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 385,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,631,924.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 26.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Navient during the 4th quarter valued at about $783,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Navient by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 343,761 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,401,000 after buying an additional 46,230 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Navient by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 74,440 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,387,000 after buying an additional 1,466 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Navient during the 4th quarter worth approximately $488,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Navient by 29.6% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 19,530 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $364,000 after acquiring an additional 4,462 shares in the last quarter. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.