Analysts Set Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) PT at $9.29

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) has been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $9.2857.

Several research firms recently commented on NAVI. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Navient from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Navient from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a research report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Navient from $10.50 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Navient from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Navient by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 98,366 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,243,000 after buying an additional 10,296 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Navient by 9.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 210,350 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,657,000 after buying an additional 17,483 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Navient by 77.0% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,766 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 3,378 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Navient by 13.5% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 438,621 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,185,000 after buying an additional 52,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Navient by 6.4% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 276,778 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,903,000 after acquiring an additional 16,611 shares during the period. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Navient Stock Down 0.8%

Navient stock opened at $7.89 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 7.67, a quick ratio of 7.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $8.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $741.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.63 and a beta of 1.20. Navient has a 1-year low of $7.33 and a 1-year high of $16.07.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.03. Navient had a positive return on equity of 4.39% and a negative net margin of 1.94%.The firm had revenue of $152.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $141.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.25 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Navient will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.1%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -101.59%.

About Navient

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.