Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The credit services provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.09, FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $150.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $142.90 million. Navient had a negative net margin of 1.94% and a positive return on equity of 4.39%.

Navient Stock Up 4.7%

Shares of NASDAQ NAVI traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $9.49. The stock had a trading volume of 2,496,311 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,065,683. The business’s 50 day moving average is $8.35 and its 200-day moving average is $8.79. The company has a market cap of $891.96 million, a P/E ratio of -15.06 and a beta of 1.18. Navient has a 52 week low of $7.33 and a 52 week high of $13.87. The company has a quick ratio of 7.67, a current ratio of 7.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.49.

Navient Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.7%. Navient’s payout ratio is -101.59%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Navient during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Navient by 39.2% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,228 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 1,191 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Navient by 3,045.4% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,127 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 4,964 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Navient by 77.0% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,766 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 3,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in Navient during the 3rd quarter valued at about $143,000. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Navient from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Navient from $9.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 13th. 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. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on Navient in a report on Monday, April 20th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $7.00 target price on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Navient has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $9.14.

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.