Bank of America Has Lowered Expectations for Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Stock Price

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) had its price objective decreased by Bank of America from $17.00 to $16.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

NAVI has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Navient from $15.50 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised Navient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Navient from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Navient presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.50.

Navient Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ NAVI opened at $13.33 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.59, a current ratio of 9.49 and a quick ratio of 9.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $14.94 and a 200 day moving average of $15.14. Navient has a 1 year low of $13.16 and a 1 year high of $19.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.32 and a beta of 1.40.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $1.20. The business had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $150.04 million. Navient had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 1.71%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Navient will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.80%. Navient’s payout ratio is presently 92.75%.

Insider Transactions at Navient

In other Navient news, EVP Stephen M. Hauber sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total value of $150,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 256,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,853,245. This represents a 3.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 27.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its holdings in Navient by 27.8% in the third quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,581,311 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $55,833,000 after purchasing an additional 779,973 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in Navient during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,345,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Navient by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,582,928 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $23,047,000 after acquiring an additional 171,160 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Navient in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,327,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Navient by 59.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 284,130 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,429,000 after acquiring an additional 105,454 shares during the period. 97.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.