Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $52.22 Million Stock Position in Navient Corporation $NAVI

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors reduced its Navient stake by 13% in the first quarter, selling 957,534 shares. It still held 6.38 million shares worth approximately $52.2 million, representing a 6.79% ownership interest.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.14% of Navient, with several firms—including Goldman Sachs, Charles Schwab Investment Management and Millennium Management—raising their positions.
• Analysts remain cautious, assigning Navient an average “Reduce” rating and a $9.14 price target. The stock recently traded at $8.39, while its quarterly dividend of $0.16 per share implies a 7.6% annualized yield.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its stake in Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI - Free Report) by 13.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,383,533 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 957,534 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 6.79% of Navient worth $52,217,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NAVI. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd lifted its position in shares of Navient by 23.2% during the 2nd quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 2,848,718 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $40,167,000 after buying an additional 536,933 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Navient by 37.8% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,543,796 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $20,069,000 after acquiring an additional 423,381 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Navient by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,484,742 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $32,302,000 after acquiring an additional 418,161 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Navient by 70.0% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 888,186 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $11,680,000 after acquiring an additional 365,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in Navient by 206.7% during the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 398,152 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $5,176,000 after acquiring an additional 268,345 shares in the last quarter. 97.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NAVI. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Navient from $12.00 to $9.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 16th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Navient from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Navient in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Navient from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Navient has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $9.14.

Navient Price Performance

NAVI opened at $8.39 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.49, a current ratio of 7.67 and a quick ratio of 7.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $788.57 million, a P/E ratio of -13.32 and a beta of 1.19. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $8.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.86. Navient Corporation has a one year low of $7.33 and a one year high of $13.87.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.6%. Navient's dividend payout ratio is currently -101.59%.

About Navient

Navient Corporation NASDAQ: NAVI is a specialized provider of asset management and business processing solutions, with a primary focus on student loan servicing. Established in 2014 through the separation from Sallie Mae, Navient assumed responsibility for servicing federal and private education loans, positioning itself as one of the largest servicers of higher education debt in the United States.

The company's core activities center on federal student loan servicing under contracts with the U.S.

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