Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. Buys New Holdings in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 190,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,525,000. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. owned about 0.18% of Navient at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Navient by 47.0% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,355 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Navient during the third quarter valued at approximately $95,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Navient by 24.6% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 7,360 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new position in Navient in the third quarter valued at approximately $174,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Navient in the 4th quarter worth approximately $167,000. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Navient from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.90.

Navient Trading Up 1.6 %

NAVI opened at $13.83 on Friday. Navient Co. has a 52 week low of $12.73 and a 52 week high of $17.56. The company has a quick ratio of 9.49, a current ratio of 9.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.74. The firm has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.92 and a beta of 1.36.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by ($0.01). Navient had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 6.69%. On average, equities analysts expect that Navient Co. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.17%.

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.