Gabelli Funds LLC Has $2.63 Million Holdings in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Gabelli Funds LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 151,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC owned 0.14% of Navient worth $2,627,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lifted its holdings in Navient by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,586,501 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $66,781,000 after buying an additional 858,890 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Navient by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 811,826 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $15,116,000 after buying an additional 65,576 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd acquired a new position in Navient in the fourth quarter valued at $13,546,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Navient by 7.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 391,401 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,810,000 after buying an additional 27,997 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in Navient by 90.9% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 386,379 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,723,000 after buying an additional 183,969 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Navient Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NAVI traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $15.95. 1,079,895 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 735,957. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.30, a current ratio of 9.99 and a quick ratio of 12.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $14.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.89. The company has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of 10.22 and a beta of 1.40. Navient Co. has a 12 month low of $13.95 and a 12 month high of $19.68.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.14). Navient had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 3.41%. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Navient Co. will post 1.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Navient’s payout ratio is 41.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on NAVI. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Navient from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Navient from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.