Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) has received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the nine brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $9.2857.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on NAVI shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Navient from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Navient from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Navient in a research note on Monday, April 20th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $7.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Navient from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL lifted its position in shares of Navient by 66.2% during the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 590,581 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,766,000 after purchasing an additional 235,142 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Navient by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,159,730 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $28,400,000 after purchasing an additional 138,020 shares in the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Navient by 790.1% in the 3rd quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,590,339 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $20,913,000 after purchasing an additional 1,411,662 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Navient by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,484,742 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,302,000 after buying an additional 418,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arbiter Partners Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Navient in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,391,000. 97.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Navient Stock Performance

NASDAQ NAVI opened at $8.61 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.52. Navient has a 12-month low of $7.33 and a 12-month high of $16.07. The company has a current ratio of 7.67, a quick ratio of 7.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.49. The company has a market cap of $809.25 million, a P/E ratio of -13.67 and a beta of 1.19.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.03. Navient had a negative net margin of 1.94% and a positive return on equity of 4.39%. The firm had revenue of $152.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $141.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Navient will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is presently -101.59%.

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.