Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) Receives Average Rating of "Reduce" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Reduce is the consensus: eleven analysts rate Navient an average of "Reduce" (five sell, six hold) with a 12‑month average price target of $10.88.
• Navient recently missed quarterly estimates (EPS $0.02 vs. $0.31 expected; revenue $137M vs. $144.25M), is trading around $8.16—below its 200‑day SMA of $11.09—and shows a negative net margin and negative P/E.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.16 (annualized yield ~7.8%) despite a negative payout ratio of -78.05%, and institutional investors own roughly 97.1% of the shares.

Shares of Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Reduce" from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $10.8750.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Navient in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Navient from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Navient in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Navient from $10.50 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Navient from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 30th.

Navient Stock Performance

Navient stock opened at $8.16 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 9.01, a current ratio of 9.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.94. The company has a market capitalization of $775.93 million, a PE ratio of -9.95 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.09. Navient has a twelve month low of $7.80 and a twelve month high of $16.07.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The credit services provider reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.29). The firm had revenue of $137.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.25 million. Navient had a negative net margin of 2.47% and a positive return on equity of 4.70%. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.24) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Navient will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.8%. Navient's dividend payout ratio is presently -78.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Navient by 70.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,978 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 818 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its position in Navient by 79.0% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,525 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Navient in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Navient by 39.2% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,228 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,191 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Navient by 3,045.4% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,127 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 4,964 shares during the period. 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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