Meritage Portfolio Management Grows Position in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its stake in shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 31,279 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,667 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Navient were worth $582,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Navient by 277.8% during the 3rd quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 1,511 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Navient by 314.6% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,193 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,664 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Navient by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,236 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Navient by 367.7% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 6,795 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 5,342 shares during the period. Finally, CI Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Navient by 5,209.1% during the 3rd quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 9,291 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $160,000 after acquiring an additional 9,116 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Navient Price Performance

NASDAQ NAVI traded up $0.07 on Friday, hitting $15.83. The company had a trading volume of 406,618 shares, compared to its average volume of 922,398. The company has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a PE ratio of 10.13 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $16.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.38, a current ratio of 12.52 and a quick ratio of 13.63. Navient Co. has a 12-month low of $14.10 and a 12-month high of $19.69.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $163.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.04 million. Navient had a net margin of 3.93% and a return on equity of 12.09%. As a group, analysts predict that Navient Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Navient’s payout ratio is 41.03%.

Insider Transactions at Navient

In other news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 385,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,631,924.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 27.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on NAVI shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Navient from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Stephens cut shares of Navient from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $16.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Navient from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.10.

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.