Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) Upgraded to "Hold" at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Nelnet from “strong sell” to “hold.” Analysts overall have a “hold” consensus rating and an average price target of $125.
• Nelnet’s latest quarterly results beat expectations: earnings were $1.89 per share versus $1.83 forecast, while revenue reached $436.59 million against $427.37 million expected.
• Shares opened at $124.79, near the $125 consensus target; TD Cowen recently lowered its target from $135 to $125 while maintaining a “hold” rating.

Nelnet (NYSE:NNI - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on NNI. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Nelnet from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Nelnet from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $125.00.

Nelnet Stock Performance

Shares of Nelnet stock opened at $124.79 on Wednesday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $125.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.89. Nelnet has a 12 month low of $116.62 and a 12 month high of $144.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.66 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 25.84 and a quick ratio of 15.89.

Nelnet (NYSE:NNI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.06. Nelnet had a net margin of 12.93% and a return on equity of 7.15%. The firm had revenue of $436.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $427.37 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Nelnet will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Nelnet

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nelnet by 174.9% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 98,374 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $12,108,000 after acquiring an additional 62,589 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Nelnet by 8.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 81,435 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $10,502,000 after purchasing an additional 6,266 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Nelnet by 4.0% in the second quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 53,433 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $7,124,000 after purchasing an additional 2,077 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its position in Nelnet by 47.9% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 50,718 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $6,541,000 after purchasing an additional 16,428 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Nelnet by 58.9% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 48,000 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $6,190,000 after purchasing an additional 17,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.51% of the company's stock.

About Nelnet

Nelnet, Inc. is a diversified financial services and education technology company headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. Founded in 1978, it initially focused on student loan servicing and has since expanded into services for borrowers, schools, and other organizations. The company provides student loan servicing and related technology, as well as education services such as tuition and payment processing, school administration tools, and online learning resources. Its other businesses include banking and renewable energy services.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.