Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.09 EPS

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) released its earnings results on Thursday. The credit services provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.09, FiscalAI reports. Navient had a positive return on equity of 4.39% and a negative net margin of 1.94%.The company had revenue of $150.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $142.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.20 earnings per share.

Navient Price Performance

NAVI traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $9.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,496,311 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,065,773. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $8.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.77. The company has a current ratio of 7.67, a quick ratio of 7.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.49. The stock has a market cap of $891.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.06 and a beta of 1.18. Navient has a 12 month low of $7.33 and a 12 month high of $13.87.

Navient Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.7%. Navient’s payout ratio is presently -101.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Navient during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Navient by 39.2% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,228 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,191 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Navient by 3,045.4% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,127 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 4,964 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Navient by 77.0% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,766 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 3,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Navient in the 3rd quarter valued at $143,000. 97.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Navient from $9.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Navient from $12.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Navient from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Navient from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $9.14.

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.