Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Stock Price Crosses Below Two Hundred Day Moving Average - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Technical weakness: Navient's stock fell below its 200‑day moving average, trading around $8.18 versus a 200‑day MA of $11.39 (50‑day MA $9.23), indicating bearish momentum.
• Negative analyst and fundamental backdrop: MarketBeat's consensus is a Strong Sell with an average price target of $11.63, multiple price cuts and sell/hold ratings, and the company recently missed quarterly EPS ($0.02 vs. $0.31) while showing a negative P/E.
• Dividend caution: Navient yields about 7.8% but has a negative payout ratio (~-78%), implying the dividend may be unsustainable despite the recent payment.

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report)'s stock price passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $11.39 and traded as low as $8.03. Navient shares last traded at $8.18, with a volume of 1,213,128 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays set a $9.00 price target on Navient in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Navient from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $9.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Navient from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Navient in a research report on Friday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Navient presently has a consensus rating of "Strong Sell" and an average price target of $11.63.

Navient Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $777.84 million, a P/E ratio of -9.98 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $9.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.39. The company has a quick ratio of 9.01, a current ratio of 9.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.94.

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

Navient Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NAVI. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL boosted its holdings in Navient by 66.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 590,581 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $7,766,000 after purchasing an additional 235,142 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Navient by 6.8% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,159,730 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $28,400,000 after purchasing an additional 138,020 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Navient by 790.1% in the third quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,590,339 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $20,913,000 after buying an additional 1,411,662 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in shares of Navient by 44.7% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 696,720 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $9,162,000 after buying an additional 215,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Navient by 4,721.5% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 116,583 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,533,000 after buying an additional 114,165 shares during the period. 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.

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