Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Hits New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $8.96 and last traded at $8.99, with a volume of 1098021 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $9.37.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $12.00 target price on shares of Navient in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Zacks Research lowered Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays set a $9.00 target price on Navient in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen restated a “sell” rating on shares of Navient in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Navient from $14.00 to $12.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and an average target price of $11.63.

Navient Stock Down 4.1%

The company has a market cap of $876.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.96 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.94, a current ratio of 9.01 and a quick ratio of 9.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $11.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.29.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.29). Navient had a negative net margin of 2.47% and a positive return on equity of 4.70%. The firm had revenue of $137.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.24) earnings per share. Navient has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.650-0.800 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Navient Corporation will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Navient’s payout ratio is presently -78.05%.

Institutional Trading of Navient

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NAVI. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd grew its position in shares of Navient by 23.2% during the 2nd quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 2,848,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $40,167,000 after purchasing an additional 536,933 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Navient by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,484,742 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,302,000 after buying an additional 418,161 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Navient by 6.8% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,159,730 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $28,400,000 after buying an additional 138,020 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Navient by 790.1% during the third quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,590,339 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $20,913,000 after buying an additional 1,411,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Navient by 37.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,543,796 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $20,069,000 after acquiring an additional 423,381 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Navient Company Profile

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.