Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Stock Bumped Up to Strong-Buy by Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Navient from “hold” to “strong buy,” but the broader analyst consensus remains “Reduce,” with three hold ratings and four sell ratings and an $8.17 average price target.
• Navient shares opened at $9.42, within a 52-week range of $7.33 to $13.48. The company recently beat quarterly expectations, reporting $0.29 in EPS versus a $0.20 consensus estimate and $150 million in revenue.
• Institutional investors own 97.14% of Navient’s stock, with several firms recently increasing or initiating positions.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued on Monday, Zacks reports.

NAVI has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Navient from $8.00 to $8.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Navient in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Navient in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Navient from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $8.17.

Navient Price Performance

Shares of NAVI stock opened at $9.42 on Monday. Navient has a fifty-two week low of $7.33 and a fifty-two week high of $13.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.73, a quick ratio of 10.53 and a current ratio of 10.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $883.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.91 and a beta of 1.15. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $9.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.72.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $150.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.87 million. Navient had a negative net margin of 1.64% and a positive return on equity of 4.68%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Navient will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Navient

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Navient by 325.6% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,005 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 3,829 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Navient by 552.6% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 4,855 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 4,111 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Navient during the first quarter valued at $72,000. Greenwood Gearhart LLC purchased a new position in Navient in the first quarter valued at $84,000. Finally, United Capital Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Navient in the second quarter valued at $87,000. 97.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Navient

Navient Corporation is a financial services company that provides education finance and loan management solutions. Its activities include servicing and managing private education loans and federally backed loans held in its portfolio, as well as providing related customer support, payment processing and account administration services.

The company was formed in 2014 through the separation of Sallie Mae's education-lending and loan-servicing businesses. Navient formerly serviced a significant portion of the federal student loan portfolio, but it exited the U.S.

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