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

Key Points

• Navient shares fell sharply, opening at $8.79 versus the prior close of $9.49, before trading near $8.84.
• Analysts remain cautious: the stock carries a consensus “Reduce” rating, with five Holds and four Sells and an average price target of $9.14.
• Navient exceeded quarterly expectations with EPS of $0.29 versus $0.20 forecast and revenue of $150 million, while maintaining a $0.16 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 7.1% yield.

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $9.49, but opened at $8.79. Navient shares last traded at $8.8360, with a volume of 382,255 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Navient from $12.00 to $9.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Navient from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Navient in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Navient from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on Navient in a research report on Monday, April 20th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $7.00 target price on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Navient has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $9.14.

Navient Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $8.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $841.49 million, a P/E ratio of -14.09 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 7.67, a current ratio of 7.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.49.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.09. Navient had a negative net margin of 1.94% and a positive return on equity of 4.39%. The firm had revenue of $150.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $142.90 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.20 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Navient Corporation will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.1%. Navient's dividend payout ratio is currently -101.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Navient by 11.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 98,366 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,243,000 after buying an additional 10,296 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Navient by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 210,350 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,657,000 after acquiring an additional 17,483 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Navient by 77.0% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,766 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 3,378 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Navient by 13.5% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 438,621 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $6,185,000 after acquiring an additional 52,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Navient by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 276,778 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,903,000 after acquiring an additional 16,611 shares in the last quarter. 97.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source