Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Hits New 12-Month Low - What's Next?

Key Points

• Navient hit a new 52-week low, trading as low as $7.25 after closing the previous session at $7.84.
• Analyst sentiment is mostly cautious: the consensus rating is “Reduce” with an $8 average price target, while four analysts rate the stock Sell and one rates it Strong Buy.
• Navient reported quarterly EPS of $0.03, missing the $0.13 consensus estimate. Its annualized dividend yield is 8.9%, but the 120.75% payout ratio exceeds reported earnings.

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low on Tuesday. The company traded as low as $7.25 and last traded at $7.2660, with a volume of 437,375 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on NAVI. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Navient in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Navient from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Navient from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Navient from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Navient from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $8.00.

Navient Stock Down 7.8%

The company has a quick ratio of 10.53, a current ratio of 10.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.73. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $677.65 million, a PE ratio of 13.63 and a beta of 1.17.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $308.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $144.92 million. Navient had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 3.66%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.84) EPS. Analysts forecast that Navient Corporation will post 0.71 EPS for the current year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th were issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.9%. Navient's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 120.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Navient by 41.5% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,939,380 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $16,504,000 after purchasing an additional 568,590 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Navient in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,295,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Navient by 290.4% in the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 188,946 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,608,000 after buying an additional 140,550 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its holdings in shares of Navient by 329.5% in the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 169,241 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,440,000 after buying an additional 129,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Navient in the 2nd quarter worth $3,176,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.14% of the company's stock.

Navient Company Profile

Navient is a U.S.-focused education finance company whose business has centered on managing student loan portfolios and providing loan servicing. Its services have included payment processing, borrower account support and repayment assistance for federal and private education loans, as well as asset-recovery and business-processing services. The company was formed in 2014 through the separation of SLM Corporation, commonly known as Sallie Mae. Navient later transferred federal student loan servicing operations to other providers, including a transfer to Maximus in 2021 and an agreement to move its remaining federal servicing accounts to MOHELA in 2024.

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