Janus Henderson Group PLC Increases Position in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI - Free Report) by 557.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 316,699 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 268,520 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned approximately 0.29% of Navient worth $4,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Navient by 1,043.8% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 635,466 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $8,445,000 after purchasing an additional 579,909 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Navient by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,315,841 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $17,488,000 after purchasing an additional 423,013 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL lifted its stake in shares of Navient by 1,088.8% in the 4th quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 460,646 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $6,122,000 after purchasing an additional 421,898 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Navient by 69.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 667,372 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $8,869,000 after purchasing an additional 273,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Navient by 46.0% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 725,244 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $9,638,000 after purchasing an additional 228,385 shares during the last quarter. 97.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Navient from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Navient from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. TD Cowen lowered Navient from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Navient from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Securities raised their price target on Navient from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $12.93.

Navient Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NAVI stock traded up $0.02 on Friday, reaching $13.25. 525,637 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 770,301. Navient Co. has a 52 week low of $10.53 and a 52 week high of $16.97. The company has a current ratio of 9.48, a quick ratio of 9.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a PE ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 1.38. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $12.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.54.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $156.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $150.40 million. Navient had a return on equity of 6.69% and a net margin of 2.96%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Navient Co. will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.83%. Navient's payout ratio is currently 128.00%.

Navient Profile

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.