Covestor Ltd Increases Position in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 23.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,245 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,173 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Navient were worth $109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Navient by 22.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 297,531 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,123,000 after purchasing an additional 55,185 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Navient in the 4th quarter valued at $2,441,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Navient by 1,762.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,310 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $173,000 after buying an additional 8,810 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of Navient by 207.8% in the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 231,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,320,000 after purchasing an additional 156,086 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Navient in the 4th quarter valued at about $789,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on NAVI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Navient from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Navient from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Navient from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.70.

Navient Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NAVI traded up $0.03 on Tuesday, reaching $15.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 284,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 863,931. The company has a current ratio of 12.52, a quick ratio of 12.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.38. Navient Co. has a twelve month low of $13.95 and a twelve month high of $19.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $14.76 and a 200-day moving average of $15.94.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.05. Navient had a net margin of 3.93% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company had revenue of $163.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.04 million. Equities analysts predict that Navient Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Navient’s payout ratio is 41.03%.

Insider Transactions at Navient

In related news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of Navient stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.00, for a total value of $160,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 393,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,297,776. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 27.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.