Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.09 EPS

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) released its earnings results on Thursday. The credit services provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.09, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $150.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.90 million. Navient had a positive return on equity of 4.39% and a negative net margin of 1.94%.

Navient Stock Up 4.7%

Shares of Navient stock traded up $0.43 on Thursday, hitting $9.49. 2,496,311 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,065,683. Navient has a 12-month low of $7.33 and a 12-month high of $13.87. The company has a quick ratio of 7.67, a current ratio of 7.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.49. The company has a market cap of $891.96 million, a PE ratio of -15.06 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $8.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.79.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Navient’s payout ratio is currently -101.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America began coverage on Navient in a report on Monday, April 20th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $7.00 target price on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on Navient from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Navient from $12.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Navient from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Navient has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $9.14.

Institutional Trading of Navient

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NAVI. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Navient by 6.8% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 18,372 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 1,168 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 1,191 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Navient by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 12,604 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 1,706 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Navient by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 66,251 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $861,000 after purchasing an additional 2,392 shares during the period. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its holdings in Navient by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 593,265 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,684 shares during the period. 97.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Navient Company Profile

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.