Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Key Points

• Shares gapped down after an earnings miss: Nelnet opened at $132.22 (after a $141.36 close) and traded near $129.02 following Q1 EPS of $1.94 versus $2.66 expected and revenue of $419.06M versus $443.84M consensus.
• Dividend and analyst stance: The company declared a $0.33 quarterly dividend (annualized $1.32, ~1.0% yield; ex-dividend June 1, payable June 15) while the consensus rating is "Hold" with an average target price of $140.00.

Shares of Nelnet, Inc. (NYSE:NNI - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Friday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $141.36, but opened at $132.22. Nelnet shares last traded at $129.0210, with a volume of 40,878 shares trading hands.

The credit services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.66 by ($0.72). The business had revenue of $419.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $443.84 million. Nelnet had a net margin of 18.99% and a return on equity of 12.43%.

Nelnet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Nelnet's payout ratio is 11.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NNI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Nelnet in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Zacks Research cut shares of Nelnet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Nelnet from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $140.00.

Institutional Trading of Nelnet

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in shares of Nelnet by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 8,742 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,162,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Nelnet by 6.5% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,353 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Nelnet by 0.6% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 16,336 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,048,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Nelnet by 5.1% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,050 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Nelnet by 0.6% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 19,158 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,402,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.51% of the company's stock.

Nelnet Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.81 and a beta of 0.83. The company's 50-day moving average price is $133.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $132.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 28.27 and a quick ratio of 28.27.

Nelnet Company Profile

Nelnet, Inc NYSE: NNI is a diversified education services company founded in 1978 and headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. Originally established as the National Education Loan Network by Michael S. Dunlap, the company has grown into a prominent provider of student loan servicing and education finance solutions in the United States.

At the core of Nelnet's business is student loan servicing, where it administers and manages federal and private education loans on behalf of borrowers and lending partners.

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