Bank of America Cuts Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Price Target to $16.00

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) had its target price cut by Bank of America from $17.00 to $16.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on NAVI. StockNews.com raised shares of Navient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Navient from $15.50 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Navient from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.50.

Navient Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NAVI opened at $13.33 on Tuesday. Navient has a 12 month low of $13.16 and a 12 month high of $19.12. The company has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.32 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s 50 day moving average is $14.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.14. The company has a quick ratio of 9.49, a current ratio of 9.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.59.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Navient will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.80%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Stephen M. Hauber sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, 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 through this hyperlink. 27.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Navient

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NAVI. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Navient by 59.0% in the third 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. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Navient during the third quarter worth about $256,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Navient by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 892,828 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $13,919,000 after buying an additional 8,117 shares in the last quarter. Stadium Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Navient by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stadium Capital Management LLC now owns 340,170 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,303,000 after buying an additional 21,385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Navient by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 14,173 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 1,587 shares in the last quarter. 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.