Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) Stock Rating Raised to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Zacks reports.

NNI has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Nelnet from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Nelnet from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.00.

Nelnet Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NNI opened at $124.79 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $125.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.89. Nelnet has a fifty-two week low of $116.62 and a fifty-two week high of $144.38. The company has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.53 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 15.89 and a current ratio of 25.84.

Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.06. Nelnet had a return on equity of 7.15% and a net margin of 12.93%. The company had revenue of $436.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $427.37 million. Analysts expect that Nelnet will post 7.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nelnet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This is a boost from Nelnet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 1st. Nelnet’s payout ratio is currently 17.48%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nelnet

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Nelnet by 174.9% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 98,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $12,108,000 after acquiring an additional 62,589 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Nelnet by 8.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 81,435 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,502,000 after purchasing an additional 6,266 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Nelnet by 4.0% during the second quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 53,433 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,124,000 after purchasing an additional 2,077 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its position in shares of Nelnet by 47.9% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 50,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,541,000 after buying an additional 16,428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Nelnet by 58.9% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 48,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,190,000 after buying an additional 17,800 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.51% of the company’s stock.

Nelnet Company Profile

Nelnet, Inc. is a diversified financial services and education technology company headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. Founded in 1978, it initially focused on student loan servicing and has since expanded into services for borrowers, schools, and other organizations. The company provides student loan servicing and related technology, as well as education services such as tuition and payment processing, school administration tools, and online learning resources. Its other businesses include banking and renewable energy services.