Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Sets New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Shares of Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $8.36 and last traded at $8.5910, with a volume of 44496 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.79.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NAVI. Morgan Stanley set a $12.00 price target on Navient in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Barclays set a $9.00 price target on shares of Navient in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and an average price target of $11.63.

Navient Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 9.01, a current ratio of 9.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $11.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $817.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.49 and a beta of 1.33.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The credit services provider reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.29). The firm had revenue of $137.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.25 million. Navient had a negative net margin of 2.47% and a positive return on equity of 4.70%. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.24) EPS. On average, analysts predict that Navient Corporation will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.4%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is currently -78.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd raised its stake in Navient by 23.2% in the 2nd quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 2,848,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,167,000 after acquiring an additional 536,933 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Navient by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,484,742 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,302,000 after purchasing an additional 418,161 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Navient by 6.8% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,159,730 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $28,400,000 after purchasing an additional 138,020 shares during the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Navient by 790.1% in the third quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,590,339 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,913,000 after purchasing an additional 1,411,662 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Navient by 37.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,543,796 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $20,069,000 after buying an additional 423,381 shares during the last quarter. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.