Man Group plc Buys Shares of 477,613 Navient Corporation $NAVI

Man Group plc purchased a new position in shares of Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 477,613 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,064,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Navient by 6.8% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 18,372 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 1,168 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,191 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Navient by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 322,085 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,635,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Navient by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 38,948 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 1,654 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in Navient by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 12,604 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 1,706 shares in the last quarter. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Navient Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NAVI opened at $9.46 on Monday. Navient Corporation has a 12-month low of $7.33 and a 12-month high of $13.87. The firm has a market cap of $887.16 million, a PE ratio of -18.92 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 10.53, a quick ratio of 10.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $8.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.57.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $150.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 business earned $0.20 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Navient Corporation will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.8%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -128.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Navient in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Navient from $9.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $9.14.

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.