Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Shares Gap Down to $16.60

Shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $16.60, but opened at $15.34. Navient shares last traded at $15.80, with a volume of 358,991 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on NAVI shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Navient from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Stephens lowered shares of Navient from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $16.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Navient from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Navient in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $19.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen lowered Navient from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Navient has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.30.

Navient Stock Down 2.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 13.63, a current ratio of 12.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.38. The firm has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a fifty day moving average of $16.56 and a 200 day moving average of $17.10.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.05. Navient had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 3.93%. The company had revenue of $163.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.04 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Navient Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.06%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is 41.03%.

Insider Activity

In other Navient news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of Navient stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total transaction of $172,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 385,577 shares in the company, valued at $6,631,924.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 27.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Navient

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NAVI. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board bought a new stake in Navient during the 1st quarter worth approximately $649,000. Denali Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Navient by 115.9% during the first quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 283,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,924,000 after acquiring an additional 151,900 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Navient during the first quarter worth $36,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Navient in the 4th quarter valued at $783,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Navient by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 343,761 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,401,000 after purchasing an additional 46,230 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

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.