Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Price Target Cut to $17.00 by Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) had its price objective lowered by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Navient in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a hold rating and a $19.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen lowered Navient from a market perform rating to an underperform rating and reduced their target price for the company from $17.00 to $15.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Navient from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price target for the company from $18.00 to $17.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup upped their price target on Navient from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Barclays restated an underweight rating and set a $14.00 price objective (down from $17.00) on shares of Navient in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $16.10.

Navient Trading Down 0.3 %

Navient stock opened at $15.72 on Thursday. Navient has a 1 year low of $14.10 and a 1 year high of $19.69. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $16.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.08. The firm has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.38, a quick ratio of 13.63 and a current ratio of 12.52.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.05. Navient had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 3.93%. The company had revenue of $163.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.04 million. On average, research analysts predict that Navient will post 1.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Navient news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total transaction of $172,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 385,577 shares in the company, valued at $6,631,924.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 27.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Navient

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NAVI. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board acquired a new position in shares of Navient during the first quarter worth approximately $649,000. Denali Advisors LLC increased its position in Navient by 115.9% during the first quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 283,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,924,000 after acquiring an additional 151,900 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in Navient during the first quarter worth $36,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Navient during the 4th quarter valued at $783,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Navient by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 343,761 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,401,000 after purchasing an additional 46,230 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

About Navient

Navient Corporation provides technology-enabled education finance and business processing solutions for education, health care, and government clients in the United States. It operates through three segments: Federal Education Loans, Consumer Lending, and Business Processing. The company owns Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loans that are insured or guaranteed by state or not-for-profit agencies; and performs servicing on its portfolios, as well as federal education loans held by other institutions.