Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) have been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the ten research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $12.8333.

A number of brokerages recently commented on NAVI. Bank of America lowered Navient from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $12.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Navient from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Navient from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Cowen reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Navient in a research report on Thursday, October 30th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL increased its holdings in Navient by 66.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 590,581 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,766,000 after purchasing an additional 235,142 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Navient by 457.7% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 147,085 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after purchasing an additional 120,711 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP boosted its position in shares of Navient by 21.9% during the third quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 166,468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,189,000 after buying an additional 29,918 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Navient by 88.7% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 20,894 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 9,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Polymer Capital Management HK LTD purchased a new stake in Navient in the 3rd quarter valued at $288,000. Institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Navient Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ NAVI opened at $12.74 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 9.41, a current ratio of 9.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.98. The firm has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of -23.59 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.13. Navient has a 12-month low of $10.53 and a 12-month high of $16.07.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $511.00 million during the quarter. Navient had a negative net margin of 1.48% and a positive return on equity of 4.12%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Navient will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -118.52%.

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.