Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Shares Down 6.6% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) were down 6.6% on Monday . The company traded as low as $8.55 and last traded at $8.4830. Approximately 721,454 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 33% from the average session volume of 1,081,923 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.08.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Navient from $12.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Navient in a report on Monday, April 20th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $7.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Navient in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Navient from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $9.14.

Navient Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 10.53, a quick ratio of 7.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $803.14 million, a PE ratio of -17.09 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $8.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.75.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $150.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $142.87 million. Navient had a positive return on equity of 4.68% and a negative net margin of 1.64%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.20 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Navient Corporation will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.5%. Navient’s payout ratio is presently -128.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Navient

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Navient during the second quarter worth about $110,235,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Navient by 685.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,243,764 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,174,000 after acquiring an additional 1,085,380 shares during the period. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Navient by 23.2% during the 2nd quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 2,848,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $40,167,000 after acquiring an additional 536,933 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Navient by 37.8% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,543,796 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $20,069,000 after purchasing an additional 423,381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in 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 worth $32,302,000 after purchasing an additional 418,161 shares during the last quarter. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.