Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Trims Stake in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund reduced its stake in shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 12.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,747 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 7,070 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Navient were worth $926,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC raised its position in Navient by 314.6% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,193 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,664 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Navient by 13.1% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,236 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Navient by 367.7% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 6,795 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 5,342 shares during the period. CI Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Navient by 5,209.1% in the third quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 9,291 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 9,116 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Navient by 1,762.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,310 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $173,000 after purchasing an additional 8,810 shares during the period. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Navient

In other Navient news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of Navient stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total value of $172,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 385,577 shares in the company, valued at $6,631,924.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 27.99% of the company’s stock.

Navient Stock Performance

NASDAQ NAVI opened at $15.72 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $16.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.38, a quick ratio of 12.52 and a current ratio of 12.52. Navient Co. has a fifty-two week low of $14.10 and a fifty-two week high of $19.69.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $163.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.04 million. Navient had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 3.93%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Navient Co. will post 1.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.07%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Navient in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $19.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on Navient from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Stephens lowered Navient from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $16.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.10.

Navient 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.