Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Sets New 1-Year Low – What’s Next?

Shares of Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) hit a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $8.36 and last traded at $8.5910, with a volume of 44496 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $8.79.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NAVI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays set a $9.00 price objective on shares of Navient in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Navient from $15.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $12.00 price objective on Navient in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Navient presently has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and a consensus target price of $11.63.

Navient Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $837.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.48 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.94, a quick ratio of 9.01 and a current ratio of 9.01. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.18.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $137.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 prior year, the firm earned ($0.24) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Navient Corporation will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is presently -78.05%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Navient

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Navient by 790.1% in the third quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,590,339 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,913,000 after buying an additional 1,411,662 shares during the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its position in Navient by 23.2% in the second quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 2,848,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $40,167,000 after buying an additional 536,933 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Navient by 37.8% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,543,796 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,069,000 after buying an additional 423,381 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Navient by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,484,742 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,302,000 after acquiring an additional 418,161 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Navient by 70.0% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 888,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,680,000 after acquiring an additional 365,677 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Navient Company Profile

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.