Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Shares Up 7.6% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Navient shares rose 7.6% to $8.7550 in mid-day trading, although volume was about 94% below the average session volume.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed to negative: the stock has an average “Reduce” rating and an average price target of $8.17, below its latest trading price.
• Navient exceeded quarterly expectations with $0.29 in EPS versus $0.20 expected and reported $150 million in revenue; it also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.16, yielding about 7.3% annually.

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 7.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $8.62 and last traded at $8.7550. Approximately 72,886 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 94% from the average session volume of 1,143,312 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.14.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NAVI has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Navient in a research note on Monday, September 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Navient from $8.00 to $8.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Zacks Research upgraded Navient from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Navient from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "sell" rating on shares of Navient in a research report on Friday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $8.17.

Navient Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $825.73 million, a P/E ratio of -17.61 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50 day moving average of $9.24 and a 200-day moving average of $8.99. The company has a quick ratio of 10.53, a current ratio of 10.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.73.

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 positive return on equity of 4.68% and a negative net margin of 1.64%. The firm had revenue of $150.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $142.87 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.20 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Navient Corporation will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.3%. Navient's dividend payout ratio is presently -128.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Navient

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NAVI. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Navient by 0.4% during 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 buying an additional 1,354 shares during the period. Abel Hall LLC grew its stake in Navient by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 13,714 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 1,632 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Navient by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 30,707 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 2,920 shares during the period. Finally, Daytona Street Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Navient by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Daytona Street Capital LLC now owns 114,121 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,028,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the period. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Navient

Navient Corp. NASDAQ: NAVI is a financial services company that provides education finance and business-processing solutions. The company has historically serviced and managed federal and private student loans, helping borrowers with account administration, repayment processing, customer support and related loan-management services.

Navient's operations have evolved as the company reduced its role in servicing federally owned student loans. In 2021, it transferred its federal student loan servicing portfolio to Aidvantage, a division of Maximus.

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.