Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Thursday.

Nelnet Price Performance

NNI stock opened at $94.64 on Thursday. Nelnet has a 1 year low of $81.67 and a 1 year high of $101.60. The company has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.79 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $88.77 and a 200 day moving average of $87.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67, a current ratio of 35.15 and a quick ratio of 35.15.

Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The credit services provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($1.19). The business had revenue of $260.66 million during the quarter. Nelnet had a return on equity of 3.81% and a net margin of 4.43%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Nelnet will post 5.2 EPS for the current year.

Nelnet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Nelnet’s payout ratio is 45.90%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nelnet

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NNI. Group One Trading L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Nelnet during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nelnet by 57.4% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,391 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $798,000 after buying an additional 3,424 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nelnet during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,300,000. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nelnet by 3.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 20,480 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,741,000 after buying an additional 777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Nelnet by 3.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 205,780 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,490,000 after purchasing an additional 7,144 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.51% of the company’s stock.

Nelnet Company Profile

Nelnet, Inc engages in loan servicing, communications, education technology, services, and payment processing businesses worldwide. The Loan Servicing and Systems segment provides loan conversion, application processing, borrower updates, customer service, payment processing, due diligence procedures, funds management reconciliation, and claim processing services.