Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $10.50.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on NAVI shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Navient from $15.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research raised Navient from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Navient from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Navient from $10.50 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a report on Friday, March 27th.

Institutional Trading of Navient

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Navient by 70.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 818 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Navient by 79.0% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,525 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,114 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Navient during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Navient by 39.2% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,228 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 1,191 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Navient by 3,045.4% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,127 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 4,964 shares during the period. 97.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Navient Stock Up 5.8%

NASDAQ NAVI opened at $8.87 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $8.60 and its 200 day moving average is $10.97. The company has a current ratio of 9.01, a quick ratio of 9.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.94. Navient has a 12 month low of $7.80 and a 12 month high of $16.07. The stock has a market cap of $843.45 million, a PE ratio of -10.82 and a beta of 1.27.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The credit services provider reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.29). Navient had a positive return on equity of 4.70% and a negative net margin of 2.47%.The business had revenue of $137.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.24) earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Navient will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is -78.05%.

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.