Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Stock Price Crosses Above 50 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI)’s stock price crossed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of $8.37 and traded as high as $8.55. Navient shares last traded at $8.43, with a volume of 1,116,743 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NAVI has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Navient from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Navient from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Navient in a research note on Monday, April 20th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $7.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Navient from $12.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $9.29.

Navient Stock Up 5.6%

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.69. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $792.34 million, a PE ratio of -13.38 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 the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $152.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $141.47 million. Navient had a negative net margin of 1.94% and a positive return on equity of 4.39%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Navient Corporation will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.6%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -101.59%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Navient by 325.6% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,005 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 3,829 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Navient by 685.3% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,243,764 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,174,000 after purchasing an additional 1,085,380 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in Navient by 51.4% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 85,767 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $702,000 after buying an additional 29,108 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Navient during the 1st quarter valued at $72,000. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Navient by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 222,396 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after buying an additional 61,589 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

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.