Martingale Asset Management L P Acquires New Shares in Nelnet, Inc. $NNI

Key Points

• Martingale Asset Management L P has acquired a new stake in Nelnet, Inc. (NYSE: NNI), purchasing 15,567 shares valued at approximately $1.727 million.
• Wall Street analysts have upgraded Nelnet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating, reflecting positive growth expectations for the company.
• Nelnet recently announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.28 to $0.30 per share, equating to an annualized dividend yield of 0.9%.

Martingale Asset Management L P acquired a new stake in shares of Nelnet, Inc. (NYSE:NNI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 15,567 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,727,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Nelnet by 1.8% in 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. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Nelnet by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 11,395 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV purchased a new position in shares of Nelnet in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Nelnet by 576.5% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 460 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RMR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Nelnet by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. RMR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,453 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $494,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Nelnet Price Performance

NNI stock traded down $0.14 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $129.18. The stock had a trading volume of 52,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 65,771. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 29.42 and a quick ratio of 29.41. Nelnet, Inc. has a twelve month low of $98.15 and a twelve month high of $131.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.31 and a beta of 0.90. The company's 50-day moving average price is $123.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $115.78.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $3.14. The company had revenue of $540.61 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $376.40 million. Nelnet had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 14.86%. As a group, research analysts predict that Nelnet, Inc. will post 4.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nelnet declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 8th that allows the company to repurchase 5,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Nelnet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from Nelnet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Nelnet's payout ratio is presently 13.29%.

Nelnet Company 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.