North Star Asset Management Inc. Sells 21,255 Shares of Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Key Points

• North Star Asset Management Inc. has reduced its stake in Navient Corporation by 15.6%, selling 21,255 shares during the first quarter, now owning approximately 114,656 shares valued at $1.448 million.
• Navient recently reported strong quarterly earnings, with $0.28 EPS surpassing expectations and $156 million in revenue, indicating growth despite a year-over-year decrease in earnings.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.16 per share, yielding 5.05%, while its payout ratio stands at 128.00%, indicating a high return to shareholders.

North Star Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI - Free Report) by 15.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 114,656 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 21,255 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.11% of Navient worth $1,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Navient by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 44,052 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $585,000 after buying an additional 823 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Navient by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 12,877 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $171,000 after buying an additional 1,804 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Navient by 815.0% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,443 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 2,176 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in shares of Navient by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 79,760 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,060,000 after buying an additional 3,541 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Navient by 55.9% during the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 10,608 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 3,802 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.14% of the company's stock.

Navient Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ NAVI traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $12.94. 247,543 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 806,773. The stock has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.74 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.41. Navient Corporation has a 1-year low of $10.53 and a 1-year high of $16.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.52, a current ratio of 9.94 and a quick ratio of 9.94.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.06). Navient had a net margin of 0.89% and a return on equity of 4.08%. The business had revenue of $156.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.29 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Navient Corporation will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Navient's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 206.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen cut shares of Navient from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Navient from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Navient from $16.50 to $15.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Navient from $12.50 to $15.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $13.56.

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.