Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) Receives $15.50 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eight research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $15.50.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NAVI. Bank of America decreased their target price on Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Navient from $15.50 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. TD Cowen cut their target price 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. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Navient from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Navient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st.

Navient Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NAVI opened at $13.05 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.59, a quick ratio of 9.49 and a current ratio of 9.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a PE ratio of 18.91 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.13. Navient has a 1 year low of $12.96 and a 1 year high of $18.94.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $1.20. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $150.04 million. Navient had a net margin of 1.71% and a return on equity of 8.62%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. Analysts forecast that Navient will post 2.47 earnings per share 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 given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.90%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Navient

In other Navient news, EVP Stephen M. Hauber sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 256,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,853,245. The trade was a 3.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 27.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Navient by 102,163.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 85,901 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 85,817 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Navient during the third quarter worth about $1,398,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Navient during the third quarter worth about $511,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Navient in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,327,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in Navient by 59.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 284,130 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,429,000 after acquiring an additional 105,454 shares during the period. 97.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.