Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) Receives $16.90 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) has earned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and six have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $16.90.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on NAVI shares. TD Cowen lowered shares of Navient from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Navient from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Navient from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Navient in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “hold” rating and a $19.00 price target for the company.

Navient Stock Performance

Shares of NAVI stock opened at $17.22 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.67 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50 day moving average of $16.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.17. Navient has a 52 week low of $14.10 and a 52 week high of $19.69. The company has a quick ratio of 13.63, a current ratio of 13.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.35.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.07). Navient had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 14.17%. The company had revenue of $193.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $210.76 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Navient will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.96%.

Insider Activity at Navient

In other news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total transaction of $172,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 385,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,631,924.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 22.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Navient

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NAVI. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Navient by 27.4% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 16,272,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $302,351,000 after acquiring an additional 3,502,330 shares during the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. increased its stake in Navient by 31.5% in the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,586,501 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $66,781,000 after purchasing an additional 858,890 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd acquired a new stake in Navient during the 4th quarter worth about $13,546,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in Navient by 22.9% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,641,958 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $45,019,000 after buying an additional 491,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Navient by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,891,365 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,113,000 after buying an additional 467,779 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.