Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Reduce" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is cautious on Navient, with nine brokerages averaging a “Reduce” rating. The consensus price target is about $9.14, below the stock’s recent trading level.
• Recent earnings were mixed: Navient beat EPS and revenue expectations for the quarter, but still posted a negative net margin. Analysts expect the company to earn 0.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• Navient also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.16, annualizing to a 7.4% yield. However, the dividend payout ratio is negative, highlighting ongoing earnings pressure.

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $9.1429.

NAVI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America began coverage on Navient in a report on Monday, April 20th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $7.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Navient from $12.00 to $9.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Navient in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Barclays raised their price target on Navient from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Navient from $9.50 to $8.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 13th.

Navient Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ NAVI opened at $8.61 on Thursday. Navient has a 52 week low of $7.33 and a 52 week high of $14.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $8.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.08. The company has a quick ratio of 7.67, a current ratio of 7.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.49. The firm has a market cap of $809.25 million, a PE ratio of -13.67 and a beta of 1.19.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.03. Navient had a negative net margin of 1.94% and a positive return on equity of 4.39%. The company had revenue of $152.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $141.47 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Navient will post 0.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.4%. Navient's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -101.59%.

Institutional Trading of Navient

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NAVI. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Navient by 70.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,978 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 818 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Navient by 325.6% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,005 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 3,829 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Navient by 552.6% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 4,855 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 4,111 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Navient during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Navient by 39.2% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,228 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,191 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.14% of the company's stock.

Navient Company Profile

Navient Corporation NASDAQ: NAVI is a specialized provider of asset management and business processing solutions, with a primary focus on student loan servicing. Established in 2014 through the separation from Sallie Mae, Navient assumed responsibility for servicing federal and private education loans, positioning itself as one of the largest servicers of higher education debt in the United States.

The company's core activities center on federal student loan servicing under contracts with the U.S.

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