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

Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 48,585 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $646,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NAVI. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Navient by 815.0% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,443 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Navient in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $167,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Navient by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 12,877 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,804 shares in the last quarter. AXQ Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Navient during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $196,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Navient by 757.3% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 14,737 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $196,000 after buying an additional 13,018 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NAVI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Navient from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Navient from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Navient from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Navient from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, TD Cowen cut Navient from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $12.93.

Navient Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NAVI traded up $0.02 during trading on Monday, reaching $13.25. 525,637 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 770,301. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 1.38. Navient Co. has a 12 month low of $10.53 and a 12 month high of $16.97. The company has a 50 day moving average of $12.45 and a 200-day moving average of $13.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35, a current ratio of 9.48 and a quick ratio of 9.49.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $156.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $150.40 million. Navient had a return on equity of 6.69% and a net margin of 2.96%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Navient Co. will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Navient's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.