Meritage Portfolio Management Buys 1,667 Shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its stake in shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 31,279 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,667 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Navient were worth $582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Navient by 90.3% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 113,415 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,112,000 after purchasing an additional 53,806 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd bought a new stake in Navient in the fourth quarter worth $13,546,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Navient in the fourth quarter worth $789,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in Navient by 207.8% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 231,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,320,000 after purchasing an additional 156,086 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Navient by 1,762.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,310 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $173,000 after purchasing an additional 8,810 shares during the last quarter. 97.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Navient Stock Up 0.4 %

NAVI traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $15.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 406,618 shares, compared to its average volume of 922,398. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.13 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 12.52, a quick ratio of 13.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.38. Navient Co. has a 1 year low of $14.10 and a 1 year high of $19.69. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $16.56 and its 200-day moving average is $17.10.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $163.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.04 million. Navient had a net margin of 3.93% and a return on equity of 12.09%. As a group, research analysts expect that Navient Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.04%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.03%.

Insider Transactions at Navient

In related news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total transaction of $172,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 385,577 shares in the company, valued at $6,631,924.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 27.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on NAVI. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Navient from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Stephens cut shares of Navient from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Navient from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.10.

Navient Company Profile

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.