Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Stock Price Target Lowered at Barclays

Key Points

• Barclays lowered Navient’s price target from $8.00 to $7.00 and maintained an “underweight” rating, implying approximately 22% downside from the stock’s $8.98 price.
• Analyst sentiment remains weak: Navient has a consensus “Reduce” rating and an average price target of $8.08, with four analysts rating it “Hold” and four rating it “Sell.”
• Navient beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.29 EPS versus the $0.20 consensus and $150 million in revenue versus $142.87 million expected, while institutional investors own 97.14% of the stock.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by equities researchers at Barclays from $8.00 to $7.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "underweight" rating on the credit services provider's stock. Barclays's price objective would indicate a potential downside of 22.09% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on NAVI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Navient from $9.50 to $8.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Navient in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Navient in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $8.08.

Navient Price Performance

NAVI traded down $0.20 during trading on Monday, reaching $8.98. 226,865 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,132,133. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.73, a quick ratio of 10.53 and a current ratio of 10.53. Navient has a 12-month low of $7.33 and a 12-month high of $13.48. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.67. The company has a market cap of $842.61 million, a P/E ratio of -18.05 and a beta of 1.15.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.09. Navient had a negative net margin of 1.64% and a positive return on equity of 4.68%. The firm had revenue of $150.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $142.87 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Navient will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Navient

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Navient by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 322,085 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,635,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in Navient by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 38,948 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 1,654 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Navient by 10.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 30,707 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 2,920 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd increased its stake in Navient by 32.8% in the second quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd now owns 13,400 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 3,309 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Navient by 325.6% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,005 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 3,829 shares during the period. 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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