Analysts Set Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) Price Target at $13.50

Shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.50.

Several analysts have commented on NAVI shares. TD Cowen raised Navient from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America dropped their price target on Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Navient from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Navient

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Navient by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 44,052 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $585,000 after buying an additional 823 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Navient by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 14,173 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 1,587 shares during the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Navient by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 12,877 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,804 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Navient by 815.0% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,443 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in Navient by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 47,774 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $635,000 after purchasing an additional 2,190 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Navient Stock Down 6.1 %

NAVI stock opened at $11.14 on Friday. Navient has a fifty-two week low of $10.96 and a fifty-two week high of $17.28. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $13.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.60 and a beta of 1.24. 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 (NASDAQ:NAVI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.26 by ($0.01). Navient had a return on equity of 6.69% and a net margin of 2.96%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Navient will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.75%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.17%.

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.