Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Issues Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.29 EPS

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The credit services provider reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.29), Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $137.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.25 million. Navient had a negative net margin of 1.48% and a positive return on equity of 4.12%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.24) EPS.

Navient Stock Performance

NAVI traded down $1.12 on Wednesday, hitting $10.92. 444,086 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 736,618. Navient has a 52 week low of $10.53 and a 52 week high of $16.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of -20.09 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $12.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.82. The company has a current ratio of 9.41, a quick ratio of 9.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.98.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.9%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -118.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NAVI. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a research report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Navient from $14.00 to $12.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Navient in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays increased their price target on Navient from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average price target of $12.57.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in Navient by 457.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 147,085 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,934,000 after purchasing an additional 120,711 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP grew its stake in Navient by 21.9% in the third quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 166,468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,189,000 after acquiring an additional 29,918 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 9,819 shares during the period. Polymer Capital Management HK LTD acquired a new stake in Navient in the 3rd quarter valued at $288,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Navient in the 3rd quarter worth about $315,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

About Navient

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.