Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Lowers Position in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lowered its stake in shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 3.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,594,960 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 335,941 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 8.71% of Navient worth $196,857,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NAVI. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Navient during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Quarry LP raised its position in Navient by 299.1% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,530 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,896 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Navient during the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Navient by 33.0% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,498 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in Navient by 87.4% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 5,042 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 2,352 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.85% of the company’s stock.

Navient Price Performance

Navient stock opened at $16.62 on Friday. Navient Co. has a 1 year low of $14.10 and a 1 year high of $19.69. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $16.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.30. The company has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.95, a quick ratio of 12.81 and a current ratio of 12.81.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The credit services provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. Navient had a net margin of 7.49% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The firm had revenue of $280.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $210.90 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Navient Co. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 30th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Navient news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.99, for a total transaction of $169,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 395,330 shares in the company, valued at $6,716,656.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 26.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on NAVI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Navient from $19.50 to $18.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 17th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Navient from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Navient in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $17.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Navient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Navient from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.23.

Navient 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 and asset recovery services on its own loan portfolio, as well as federal education loans held by other institutions.