Nelnet, Inc. (NYSE:NNI) Shares Acquired by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Nelnet, Inc. (NYSE:NNI) by 25.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,896 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,445 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Nelnet were worth $8,213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new position in shares of Nelnet during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nelnet by 1,293.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Nelnet by 20.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 556 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Nelnet by 34,283.3% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,063 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 2,057 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Nelnet by 7.4% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 2,279 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. 33.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nelnet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th.

Nelnet Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NNI opened at $114.99 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 31.47, a quick ratio of 31.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.78. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $111.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.17. Nelnet, Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.02 and a twelve month high of $127.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.82 and a beta of 0.89.

Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The credit services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.21. Nelnet had a net margin of 5.54% and a return on equity of 3.78%. The company had revenue of $401.61 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $335.00 million. On average, research analysts predict that Nelnet, Inc. will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nelnet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Nelnet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.40%.

About Nelnet

Nelnet, Inc engages in loan servicing, communications, education technology, services, and payment processing businesses worldwide. The Loan Servicing and Systems segment provides loan conversion, application processing, borrower updates, customer service, payment processing, due diligence procedures, funds management reconciliation, and claim processing services.