Empowered Funds LLC Acquires 22,765 Shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 467,232 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,765 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Navient were worth $6,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Navient by 47.0% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,355 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Navient in the third quarter valued at $87,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Navient during the third quarter valued at about $95,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Navient by 24.6% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 7,360 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new stake in shares of Navient in the 3rd quarter valued at about $174,000. 97.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Navient currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.90.

Navient Stock Performance

NASDAQ NAVI opened at $13.53 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35, a current ratio of 9.48 and a quick ratio of 9.49. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $14.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.92. Navient Co. has a 1 year low of $12.73 and a 1 year high of $17.56. The firm has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66 and a beta of 1.43.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.26 by ($0.01). Navient had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 6.69%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Navient Co. will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.73%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.17%.

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.