Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Stock Jumps 6.7% Following Dividend Announcement

Shares of Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) were up 6.7% on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $6.12 and last traded at $6.3190. Approximately 171,068 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 1,191,848 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.92.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, December 18th. Investors of record on Friday, December 4th will be given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 4th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.3%. Navient’s payout ratio is 120.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NAVI. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Navient from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Zacks Research downgraded Navient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Navient from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Navient from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $8.00.

Navient Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $583.31 million, a PE ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.37, a current ratio of 7.50 and a quick ratio of 10.53. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.79.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.10). Navient had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 3.65%. The business had revenue of $308.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.92 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.84) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Navient Corporation will post 0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Navient

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in Navient during the 3rd quarter valued at about $20,711,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in Navient by 286.7% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 4,223 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 3,131 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Navient by 574.2% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 834,682 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,571,000 after purchasing an additional 710,875 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Navient in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $98,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Navient by 72.7% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 12,247 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 5,157 shares during the period. 97.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Navient

Navient is a U.S.-focused education finance company whose business has centered on managing student loan portfolios and providing loan servicing. Its services have included payment processing, borrower account support and repayment assistance for federal and private education loans, as well as asset-recovery and business-processing services. The company was formed in 2014 through the separation of SLM Corporation, commonly known as Sallie Mae. Navient later transferred federal student loan servicing operations to other providers, including a transfer to Maximus in 2021 and an agreement to move its remaining federal servicing accounts to MOHELA in 2024.