Nelnet, Inc. $NNI Position Reduced by HighTower Advisors LLC

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Nelnet, Inc. by 40.6% in Q1, holding 45,653 shares valued at approximately $5 million.
• Nelnet recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, an increase from the previous $0.28, with a payout ratio of 12.40%.
• Wall Street analysts upgraded Nelnet from a "hold" to a "strong-buy" rating, indicating positive sentiment for the company's stock.

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Nelnet, Inc. (NYSE:NNI - Free Report) by 40.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,653 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 31,243 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 0.13% of Nelnet worth $5,064,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NNI. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in Nelnet by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 9,214 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $984,000 after buying an additional 1,776 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Nelnet by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 33,139 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,540,000 after buying an additional 892 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in Nelnet by 796.0% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 448 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in Nelnet by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 30,649 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,273,000 after buying an additional 1,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Nelnet by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 8,510 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $909,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 33.51% of the company's stock.

Nelnet Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NNI traded up $5.4480 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $130.3180. 72,481 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 73,454. Nelnet, Inc. has a 52 week low of $98.15 and a 52 week high of $130.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 29.41 and a current ratio of 29.42. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $122.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $115.54. The company has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.43 and a beta of 0.90.

Nelnet (NYSE:NNI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The credit services provider reported $5.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $3.14. Nelnet had a net margin of 14.86% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The company had revenue of $540.61 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $376.40 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nelnet, Inc. will post 4.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nelnet announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 8th that permits the company to buyback 5,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Nelnet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a boost from Nelnet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Nelnet's payout ratio is currently 13.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nelnet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th.

Nelnet Profile

Nelnet, Inc engages in loan servicing, communications, education technology, services, and payment processing businesses worldwide. The Loan Servicing and Systems segment provides loan conversion, application processing, borrower updates, customer service, payment processing, due diligence procedures, funds management reconciliation, and claim processing services.