Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Stock Price Passes Below 200 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) shares passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $9.88 and traded as low as $8.06. Navient shares last traded at $8.24, with a volume of 1,271,489 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on NAVI shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Navient in a research note on Monday, April 20th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $7.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Navient from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Navient from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $9.29.

Navient Price Performance

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 stock has a market capitalization of $774.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.08 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $8.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.88.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $152.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $141.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Navient Corporation will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.8%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -101.59%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Navient

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NAVI. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Navient by 70.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 818 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Navient by 325.6% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,005 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 3,829 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Navient in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Navient by 39.2% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,228 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 1,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Navient by 3,045.4% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,127 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 4,964 shares during the last quarter. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Navient

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.