Brokerages Set Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) Price Target at $16.67

Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $16.67.

NAVI has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Navient from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $18.00 to $17.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen downgraded Navient from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Stephens lowered Navient from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $16.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $14.00 price target (down previously from $17.00) on shares of Navient in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Navient from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st.

Navient Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NAVI opened at $16.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.35, a quick ratio of 13.63 and a current ratio of 13.64. Navient has a fifty-two week low of $14.10 and a fifty-two week high of $19.69. The company has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.11 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $16.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.13.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $193.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $210.76 million. Navient had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 14.17%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Navient will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.96%.

Insider Activity

In other Navient news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of Navient stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total transaction of $172,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 385,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,631,924.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 26.93% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NAVI. Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Navient during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,441,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Navient by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,138,526 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $19,605,000 after purchasing an additional 78,186 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Navient by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 196,938 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,395,000 after buying an additional 35,386 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in Navient by 207.8% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 231,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,320,000 after buying an additional 156,086 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Navient by 14.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 704,608 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $12,133,000 after buying an additional 89,220 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Navient Company 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 on its portfolios, as well as federal education loans held by other institutions.