Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.90.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on NAVI shares. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st.

Navient Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NAVI opened at $13.47 on Monday. Navient has a twelve month low of $12.73 and a twelve month high of $17.56. The firm has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a 50 day moving average of $13.78 and a 200 day moving average of $14.63. The company has a quick ratio of 9.49, a current ratio of 9.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by ($0.01). Navient had a return on equity of 6.69% and a net margin of 2.96%. As a group, research analysts expect that Navient will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.17%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Navient by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,822,583 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $24,222,000 after buying an additional 109,229 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Navient by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,567,466 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,832,000 after buying an additional 199,937 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Navient by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,315,841 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,488,000 after buying an additional 423,013 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Navient by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,149,599 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $15,278,000 after buying an additional 10,788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Navient by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,092,270 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,028,000 after purchasing an additional 19,606 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Navient Company Profile

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.