Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Shares Gap Down to $16.60

Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $16.60, but opened at $15.34. Navient shares last traded at $15.80, with a volume of 358,991 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on NAVI shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Navient in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “hold” rating and a $19.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Navient from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen cut shares of Navient from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.67.

Navient Trading Down 2.7 %

The company has a current ratio of 13.64, a quick ratio of 13.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.35. The business’s 50-day moving average is $16.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.12. The firm has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.97 and a beta of 1.38.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.07). Navient had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 14.17%. The business had revenue of $193.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $210.76 million. As a group, analysts expect that Navient Co. will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Navient news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total value of $172,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 385,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,631,924.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 27.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NAVI. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its position in Navient by 31.5% in the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,586,501 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $66,781,000 after purchasing an additional 858,890 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd bought a new position in shares of Navient in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,546,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in shares of Navient by 207.8% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 231,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,320,000 after acquiring an additional 156,086 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Navient by 115.9% in the first quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 283,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,924,000 after acquiring an additional 151,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Navient by 24.8% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 541,674 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,328,000 after acquiring an additional 107,543 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

About Navient

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.