Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Friday.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Navient from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on Navient from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Navient from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Navient presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $13.90.

Navient Price Performance

NASDAQ:NAVI traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $13.54. 829,925 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 876,011. Navient has a 52-week low of $12.73 and a 52-week high of $17.56. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $14.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.98. The company has a current ratio of 9.48, a quick ratio of 9.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35. The company has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.67 and a beta of 1.43.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $0.25 EPS 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Navient will post 1.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Navient's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Navient news, EVP Stephen M. Hauber sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $150,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 256,883 shares in the company, valued at $3,853,245. This represents a 3.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 27.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Navient

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of NAVI. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. increased its holdings in Navient by 27.8% in the third quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,581,311 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $55,833,000 after buying an additional 779,973 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Navient by 1.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,092,270 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $17,028,000 after purchasing an additional 19,606 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Navient by 0.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 892,828 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $13,919,000 after buying an additional 8,117 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Navient by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 467,232 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $6,210,000 after buying an additional 22,765 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Navient by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 374,879 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $4,982,000 after buying an additional 3,445 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.14% of the company's stock.

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.