Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the eleven research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $12.5714.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NAVI shares. Cowen reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Navient in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Navient from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Navient from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $12.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th.

Navient Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NAVI opened at $13.00 on Friday. Navient has a fifty-two week low of $10.53 and a fifty-two week high of $16.07. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.07 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $12.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.98, a quick ratio of 9.41 and a current ratio of 9.41.

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

Navient Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is -118.52%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Navient by 70.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 818 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Navient by 79.0% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,525 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,114 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Navient during the third quarter valued at approximately $68,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Navient during the third quarter valued at approximately $88,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Navient by 77.0% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,766 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 3,378 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Navient Company Profile

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ: NAVI) is a specialized provider of asset management and business processing solutions, with a primary focus on student loan servicing. Established in 2014 through the separation from Sallie Mae, Navient assumed responsibility for servicing federal and private education loans, positioning itself as one of the largest servicers of higher education debt in the United States.

The company’s core activities center on federal student loan servicing under contracts with the U.S.