Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Stock Gets Price Target Increase from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) had its price objective hoisted by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $8.00 to $8.50 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would indicate a potential downside of 9.77% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on NAVI. TD Cowen restated a “sell” rating on shares of Navient in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Navient from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a report on Monday, September 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Navient presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $8.17.

Navient Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ NAVI opened at $9.42 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 10.53, a current ratio of 10.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.73. Navient has a 52 week low of $7.33 and a 52 week high of $13.48. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $9.28 and its 200 day moving average is $8.72. The company has a market cap of $883.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.91 and a beta of 1.15.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $150.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.87 million. Navient had a negative net margin of 1.64% and a positive return on equity of 4.68%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.20 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Navient will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Navient by 552.6% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 4,855 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 4,111 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Navient by 325.6% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,005 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 3,829 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Navient during the first quarter valued at $72,000. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Navient during the 2nd quarter valued at $87,000. Finally, Greenwood Gearhart LLC bought a new stake in shares of Navient during the 1st quarter valued at $84,000. 97.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Navient

Navient Corporation is a financial services company that provides education finance and loan management solutions. Its activities include servicing and managing private education loans and federally backed loans held in its portfolio, as well as providing related customer support, payment processing and account administration services.

The company was formed in 2014 through the separation of Sallie Mae’s education-lending and loan-servicing businesses. Navient formerly serviced a significant portion of the federal student loan portfolio, but it exited the U.S.