Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Navient Put Options (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI – Get Rating) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 28,011 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 4,236% compared to the typical volume of 646 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on NAVI shares. 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. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Navient from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $14.00 to $16.00 in a report on Thursday, December 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Navient from $16.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, January 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Navient from $24.00 to $18.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NAVI. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Navient in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Navient by 89.2% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,937 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Navient by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,974 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Navient by 87.4% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 5,042 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 2,352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Navient in the third quarter worth approximately $88,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.48% of the company’s stock.

Navient Price Performance

NASDAQ NAVI opened at $17.38 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $16.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.77. The company has a current ratio of 12.32, a quick ratio of 12.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 21.53. The company has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 1.52. Navient has a 1 year low of $12.45 and a 1 year high of $19.39.

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

Navient Announces Dividend

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

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.