Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Upgraded at TD Cowen

TD Cowen upgraded shares of Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on NAVI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Navient from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Navient from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.50.

Navient Stock Performance

Shares of NAVI opened at $11.14 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35, a quick ratio of 9.49 and a current ratio of 9.48. Navient has a 1 year low of $10.96 and a 1 year high of $17.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of 9.60 and a beta of 1.24.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by ($0.01). Navient had a return on equity of 6.69% and a net margin of 2.96%. On average, analysts predict that Navient will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Navient’s payout ratio is currently 55.17%.

Institutional Trading of Navient

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NAVI. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Navient by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,822,583 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $24,222,000 after purchasing an additional 109,229 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Navient by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,567,466 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $20,832,000 after buying an additional 199,937 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Navient by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,315,841 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,488,000 after acquiring an additional 423,013 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Navient by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,149,599 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $15,278,000 after acquiring an additional 10,788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Navient by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,092,270 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,028,000 after acquiring an additional 19,606 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

About Navient

Navient Corporation provides technology-enabled education finance and business processing solutions for education, health care, and government clients in the United States. It operates through three segments: Federal Education Loans, Consumer Lending, and Business Processing. The company owns Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loans that are insured or guaranteed by state or not-for-profit agencies; and performs servicing on its portfolios, as well as federal education loans held by other institutions.