Nomura Holdings Inc. Buys Shares of 48,585 Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 48,585 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $646,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Navient by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 395,948 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $5,262,000 after buying an additional 119,317 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Navient in the 4th quarter worth approximately $258,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Navient by 143.0% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 356,405 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $4,737,000 after buying an additional 209,744 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Navient in the 4th quarter worth approximately $321,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew 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 worth $17,488,000 after buying an additional 423,013 shares during the last quarter. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NAVI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Securities increased their price target on Navient from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Navient from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. TD Cowen cut Navient from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Navient from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Navient from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $12.93.

Navient Stock Performance

Shares of NAVI stock traded up $0.02 on Friday, hitting $13.25. The company had a trading volume of 525,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 769,286. The firm has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $12.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.57. The company has a quick ratio of 9.49, a current ratio of 9.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35. Navient Co. has a twelve month low of $10.53 and a twelve month high of $16.97.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $156.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $150.40 million. Navient had a return on equity of 6.69% and a net margin of 2.96%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Navient Co. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.83%. Navient's payout ratio is 128.00%.

Navient Company 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.