Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $12.8333.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Cowen reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Navient in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Navient from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Navient from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Navient from $14.00 to $12.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th.

Institutional Trading of Navient

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 1,114 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Navient in the 3rd quarter valued at about $68,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Navient during the 3rd quarter valued at about $88,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Navient by 77.0% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,766 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 3,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in Navient during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $143,000. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Navient Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NAVI opened at $12.78 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.07. The company has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.67 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.98, a current ratio of 9.41 and a quick ratio of 9.41. Navient has a 1-year low of $10.53 and a 1-year high of $16.07.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $511.00 million during the quarter. Navient had a negative net margin of 1.48% and a positive return on equity of 4.12%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Navient will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is -118.52%.

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.