Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $14.58.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NAVI. Seaport Res Ptn raised Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America cut their target price on Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Navient from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th.

Navient Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NAVI stock opened at $14.57 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a PE ratio of 21.12 and a beta of 1.43. Navient has a 12 month low of $12.73 and a 12 month high of $18.36. The company has a quick ratio of 9.49, a current ratio of 9.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.59. The business’s 50 day moving average is $14.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.01.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $1.20. Navient had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 1.71%. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $150.04 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Navient will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.39%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is 92.75%.

Insider Activity

In other Navient news, EVP Stephen M. Hauber sold 10,000 shares of Navient stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total value of $150,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 256,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,853,245. The trade was a 3.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 27.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Navient

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NAVI. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Navient during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,398,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Navient during the third quarter valued at approximately $511,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Navient in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,327,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Navient in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $714,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in Navient by 59.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 284,130 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,429,000 after purchasing an additional 105,454 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

About Navient

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.