Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Earns Underperform Rating from Analysts at Bank of America

Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) in a report published on Monday. The firm issued an underperform rating and a $7.00 price objective on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on NAVI. Wall Street Zen upgraded Navient from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Barclays reduced their price target on Navient from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Navient from $12.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Navient from $10.50 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Navient presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $9.57.

Navient Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of Navient stock opened at $8.93 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $839.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.89 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.94, a current ratio of 9.01 and a quick ratio of 9.01. Navient has a 52-week low of $7.80 and a 52-week high of $16.07. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.89.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $137.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.25 million. Navient had a negative net margin of 2.47% and a positive return on equity of 4.70%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.24) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Navient will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.2%. Navient’s payout ratio is -78.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of NAVI. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Navient by 70.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 818 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Navient by 79.0% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,525 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Navient during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Navient by 39.2% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,228 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,191 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Navient by 3,045.4% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,127 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 4,964 shares during the period. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.