Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Downgraded to “Strong Sell” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on NAVI. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a research note on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Navient from $14.00 to $12.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Navient from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. TD Cowen restated a “sell” rating on shares of Navient in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Navient has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and a consensus price target of $11.63.

Navient Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NAVI opened at $10.01 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.94, a current ratio of 9.01 and a quick ratio of 9.41. The firm has a market cap of $976.08 million, a PE ratio of -12.21 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.66. Navient has a 1-year low of $9.35 and a 1-year high of $16.07.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.29). Navient had a positive return on equity of 4.70% and a negative net margin of 2.47%.The firm had revenue of $137.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.24) earnings per share. Navient has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.650-0.800 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Navient will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -78.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Navient in the fourth quarter worth about $86,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its holdings in Navient by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 181,300 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,357,000 after acquiring an additional 31,506 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Navient by 105.8% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 55,285 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $719,000 after acquiring an additional 28,418 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Navient by 70.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Navient by 1.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 749,903 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,861,000 after purchasing an additional 12,153 shares during the period. 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.