Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

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

Several analysts have issued reports on NAVI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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. Bank of America cut their price objective 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. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

Navient Stock Up 3.5 %

NAVI stock opened at $13.47 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 1.36. Navient has a 52 week low of $12.73 and a 52 week high of $17.56. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $13.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.65. The company has a current ratio of 9.48, a quick ratio of 9.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $0.25 EPS 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Navient will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.75%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Navient

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Navient by 815.0% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,443 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Navient by 47.0% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,355 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Navient by 24.6% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 7,360 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Navient in the fourth quarter valued at $167,000. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Navient by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 12,877 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,804 shares during the period. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.