Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Stock Price Passes Below 200 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) shares passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $9.88 and traded as low as $8.06. Navient shares last traded at $8.24, with a volume of 1,271,489 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on NAVI shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Navient from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Navient from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Bank of America began coverage on Navient in a report on Monday, April 20th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $7.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Navient from $12.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a report on Friday, March 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Navient presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $9.29.

Navient Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $8.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.49, a quick ratio of 7.67 and a current ratio of 7.67. The stock has a market cap of $774.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.08 and a beta of 1.20.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.03. Navient had a positive return on equity of 4.39% and a negative net margin of 1.94%.The firm had revenue of $152.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $141.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Navient Corporation will post 0.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.8%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is currently -101.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Navient by 11.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 98,366 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,243,000 after buying an additional 10,296 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Navient by 9.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 210,350 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,657,000 after purchasing an additional 17,483 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Navient by 77.0% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,766 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 3,378 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Navient by 13.5% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 438,621 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,185,000 after purchasing an additional 52,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Navient by 6.4% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 276,778 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,903,000 after purchasing an additional 16,611 shares in the last quarter. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Navient Company Profile

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ: NAVI) is a specialized provider of asset management and business processing solutions, with a primary focus on student loan servicing. Established in 2014 through the separation from Sallie Mae, Navient assumed responsibility for servicing federal and private education loans, positioning itself as one of the largest servicers of higher education debt in the United States.

The company’s core activities center on federal student loan servicing under contracts with the U.S.