Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) Announces Earnings Results

Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The credit services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07), FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $390.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $382.00 million. Nelnet had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 18.96%.

Nelnet Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NNI traded up $0.86 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $131.61. The company had a trading volume of 72,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 89,206. Nelnet has a 52-week low of $98.15 and a 52-week high of $142.87. The company has a quick ratio of 28.98, a current ratio of 28.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $132.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $130.24. The firm has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.06 and a beta of 0.82.

Nelnet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. Nelnet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.09%.

Insider Transactions at Nelnet

In related news, Director Deun Jona M. Van sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.95, for a total transaction of $51,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 704 shares in the company, valued at $90,780.80. This represents a 36.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 50.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nelnet

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NNI. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Nelnet by 6.5% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,353 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Nelnet by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 16,336 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,048,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Nelnet by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 19,158 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,402,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Nelnet by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,825 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Nelnet by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 12,992 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,574,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NNI has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Nelnet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Nelnet in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Nelnet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.00.

About Nelnet

Nelnet, Inc (NYSE: NNI) is a diversified education services company founded in 1978 and headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. Originally established as the National Education Loan Network by Michael S. Dunlap, the company has grown into a prominent provider of student loan servicing and education finance solutions in the United States.

At the core of Nelnet’s business is student loan servicing, where it administers and manages federal and private education loans on behalf of borrowers and lending partners.