Analysts Set Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) Target Price at $9.29

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) has received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $9.2857.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Navient from $12.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Navient from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Navient in a report on Monday, April 20th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $7.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Navient from $10.50 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Navient from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Navient by 70.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 818 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in Navient by 79.0% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,525 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,114 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Navient in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Navient by 39.2% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,228 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 1,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Navient by 325.6% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,005 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 3,829 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Navient Stock Performance

Shares of NAVI opened at $8.14 on Friday. Navient has a 52-week low of $7.80 and a 52-week high of $16.07. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $8.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.49, a quick ratio of 7.67 and a current ratio of 7.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $765.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.92 and a beta of 1.24.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The credit services provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.03. Navient had a positive return on equity of 4.39% and a negative net margin of 1.94%.The business had revenue of $152.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $141.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Navient will post 0.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.9%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -101.59%.

About Navient

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.