Zacks Research Upgrades Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) to Strong-Buy

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Barclays decreased their target price on Navient from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Navient from $8.00 to $8.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. TD Cowen restated a “sell” rating on shares of Navient in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a report on Monday, September 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Navient currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $8.17.

Navient Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NAVI opened at $9.42 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 10.53, a quick ratio of 10.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.73. Navient has a 12 month low of $7.33 and a 12 month high of $13.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $9.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.72. The firm has a market cap of $883.41 million, a P/E ratio of 7.91 and a beta of 1.15.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $150.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $142.87 million. Navient had a positive return on equity of 4.68% and a negative net margin of 1.64%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.20 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Navient will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NAVI. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Navient by 552.6% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 4,855 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 4,111 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Navient by 325.6% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,005 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 3,829 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Navient in the first quarter valued at approximately $72,000. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Navient in the second quarter valued at approximately $87,000. Finally, Greenwood Gearhart LLC purchased a new position in Navient during the first quarter worth approximately $84,000. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Navient Company Profile

Navient Corporation is a financial services company that provides education finance and loan management solutions. Its activities include servicing and managing private education loans and federally backed loans held in its portfolio, as well as providing related customer support, payment processing and account administration services.

The company was formed in 2014 through the separation of Sallie Mae’s education-lending and loan-servicing businesses. Navient formerly serviced a significant portion of the federal student loan portfolio, but it exited the U.S.