Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the nine brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $9.2857.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on NAVI shares. Zacks Research raised Navient from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Navient from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Navient from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Navient from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Navient in a report on Monday, April 20th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $7.00 price target on the stock.

Navient Trading Up 2.8%

NASDAQ NAVI opened at $8.70 on Friday. Navient has a 12 month low of $7.33 and a 12 month high of $16.07. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.66. The company has a current ratio of 7.67, a quick ratio of 7.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.49. The company has a market capitalization of $817.71 million, a PE ratio of -13.81 and a beta of 1.20.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.03. Navient had a negative net margin of 1.94% and a positive return on equity of 4.39%. The business had revenue of $152.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $141.47 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Navient will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.4%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -101.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Navient by 23.2% during the 2nd quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 2,848,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $40,167,000 after buying an additional 536,933 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Navient by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,484,742 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,302,000 after acquiring an additional 418,161 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Navient by 6.8% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,159,730 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $28,400,000 after acquiring an additional 138,020 shares during the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Navient by 790.1% during the third quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,590,339 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $20,913,000 after acquiring an additional 1,411,662 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Navient by 37.8% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,543,796 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,069,000 after purchasing an additional 423,381 shares during the last quarter. 97.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.