Verition Fund Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 137.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,653 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,465 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Navient were worth $525,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Navient in the second quarter valued at about $696,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Navient by 83.8% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,107 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $191,000 after buying an additional 5,977 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Navient by 22.1% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,797 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 869 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Navient by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 322,820 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,700,000 after buying an additional 2,991 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Navient by 102,163.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 85,901 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 85,817 shares during the period. 97.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Navient news, EVP Stephen M. Hauber sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $150,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 256,883 shares in the company, valued at $3,853,245. This represents a 3.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 27.99% of the company’s stock.

Navient Stock Performance

Shares of NAVI opened at $15.05 on Thursday. Navient Co. has a 12-month low of $13.71 and a 12-month high of $19.68. The company has a current ratio of 9.49, a quick ratio of 9.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.59. The company has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of 21.81 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $15.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.18.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $1.20. The business had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $150.04 million. Navient had a net margin of 1.71% and a return on equity of 8.62%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Navient Co. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.25%. Navient’s payout ratio is 92.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on NAVI shares. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America started coverage on Navient in a research report on Monday, September 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $17.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Navient from $15.50 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Barclays increased their price objective on Navient from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Navient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.63.

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