Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Shares Down 6.6% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Navient shares fell 6.6% to about $8.48 in mid-day trading, with roughly 721,454 shares changing hands—below average volume.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: five analysts rate the stock Hold and four rate it Sell, producing a consensus “Reduce” rating and a $9.14 target price.
• Navient’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $0.29 versus $0.20 forecast and revenue of $150 million versus $142.87 million expected. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.16 per share, representing a 7.5% annualized yield.

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report) traded down 6.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $8.55 and last traded at $8.4830. Approximately 721,454 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the average session volume of 1,081,923 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.08.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NAVI. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Navient in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on Navient from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America began coverage on Navient in a research note on Monday, April 20th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $7.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Navient from $12.00 to $9.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Navient in a report on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $9.14.

Navient Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $803.14 million, a PE ratio of -17.09 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.73, a quick ratio of 7.67 and a current ratio of 10.53.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.09. Navient had a negative net margin of 1.64% and a positive return on equity of 4.68%. The business had revenue of $150.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $142.87 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.20 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Navient Corporation will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Navient's dividend payout ratio is presently -128.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Navient

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Navient by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 18,372 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 1,168 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Navient by 39.2% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,228 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,191 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Navient by 0.4% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 322,085 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,635,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Navient by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 38,948 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 1,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in Navient by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 12,604 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 1,706 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.14% of the company's stock.

About Navient

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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