AlphaQuest LLC Increases Holdings in Navient Corporation $NAVI

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC significantly increased its stake in Navient Corporation by 466.0% during the second quarter, acquiring an additional 76,234 shares to own a total of 92,594 shares valued at approximately $1.3 million.
• Analyst ratings for Navient have been mixed, with changes including downgrades from JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America, resulting in an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $13.07.
• Navient recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.16 per share, yielding about 5.0%, with a payout ratio currently at 206.45%.

AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI - Free Report) by 466.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 92,594 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 76,234 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Navient worth $1,306,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Navient in the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Navient during the 1st quarter valued at about $71,000. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Navient by 15.7% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 7,303 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 993 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Navient in the first quarter worth approximately $129,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of Navient during the first quarter valued at $149,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on NAVI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America downgraded shares of Navient from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $12.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Navient in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Navient from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Navient presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $13.07.

Navient Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Navient stock opened at $12.82 on Friday. Navient Corporation has a 1-year low of $10.53 and a 1-year high of $16.15. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $13.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.52, a current ratio of 9.94 and a quick ratio of 9.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of 41.36 and a beta of 1.34.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $511.00 million for the quarter. Navient had a return on equity of 4.08% and a net margin of 0.89%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Navient Corporation will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. Navient's payout ratio is presently 206.45%.

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.

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