Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI – Get Rating) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $16.06.

NAVI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Credit Suisse Group cut their price target on shares of Navient to $14.00 in a report on Thursday, October 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Navient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Navient from $14.50 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 10th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Navient from $18.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 13th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Navient from $16.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, January 6th.

Navient Price Performance

NAVI opened at $17.38 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a 50 day moving average of $16.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.77. The company has a quick ratio of 12.32, a current ratio of 12.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 21.53. Navient has a 52-week low of $12.45 and a 52-week high of $19.39.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 25th. The credit services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $247.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $279.19 million. Navient had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 10.97%. On average, analysts expect that Navient will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 1st. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John M. Kane sold 17,006 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.56, for a total transaction of $281,619.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 607,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,056,937.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 22.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Navient

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Navient during the fourth quarter valued at about $212,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Navient by 172.2% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 28,320 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 17,916 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky purchased a new stake in shares of Navient in the third quarter worth approximately $337,000. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC raised its position in Navient by 290.1% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 330,647 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,857,000 after acquiring an additional 245,897 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in Navient by 7.7% during the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 17,403 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 1,241 shares in the last quarter. 70.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Navient Company Profile

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Navient Corporation provides education loan management and business processing solutions for education, healthcare, and government clients at the federal, state, and local levels in the United States. It operates through three segments: Federal Education Loans, Consumer Lending, and Business Processing.