Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Rating Increased to Hold at TD Cowen

TD Cowen upgraded shares of Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

NAVI has been the topic of several other research reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Navient from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Navient from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.50.

Navient Stock Up 2.9 %

Navient stock opened at $12.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35, a quick ratio of 9.49 and a current ratio of 9.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $13.67 and a 200 day moving average of $14.39. Navient has a one year low of $12.35 and a one year high of $17.56.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts predict that Navient will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.93%. Navient’s payout ratio is 55.17%.

Institutional Trading of Navient

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Navient by 815.0% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,443 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Navient in the fourth quarter worth $167,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Navient by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 12,877 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,804 shares during the last quarter. Twinbeech Capital LP purchased a new position in Navient during the fourth quarter valued at $173,000. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new stake in Navient in the 3rd quarter valued at $174,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

About Navient

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.