Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) Receives $12.83 Average PT from Analysts

Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $12.93.

Several research firms have weighed in on NAVI. TD Cowen upgraded Navient from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Navient from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Navient from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Navient from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NAVI. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Navient by 815.0% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,443 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Navient by 2,663.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,096 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 7,803 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Navient by 55.9% in the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 10,608 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 3,802 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in Navient during the first quarter valued at $149,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Navient during the 4th quarter worth about $167,000. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Navient Price Performance

Navient stock opened at $12.53 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35, a current ratio of 9.48 and a quick ratio of 9.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $12.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.77. Navient has a one year low of $10.53 and a one year high of $16.97.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.09. Navient had a return on equity of 6.69% and a net margin of 2.96%. The business had revenue of $156.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $150.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Navient will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.11%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Navient’s payout ratio is presently 55.17%.

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.