Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) vs. Yirendai (NYSE:YRD) Head-To-Head Review
by Teresa Graham · The Cerbat GemYirendai (NYSE:YRD – Get Free Report) and Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI – Get Free Report) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability, valuation and risk.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Yirendai and Navient, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Yirendai | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 |
| Navient | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1.56 |
Navient has a consensus price target of $9.14, indicating a potential downside of 6.51%. Given Navient’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Navient is more favorable than Yirendai.
Risk & Volatility
Yirendai has a beta of 1.14, suggesting that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Navient has a beta of 1.18, suggesting that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Dividends
Yirendai pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 20.1%. Navient pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.5%. Yirendai pays out -16.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Navient pays out -128.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.
Profitability
This table compares Yirendai and Navient’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Yirendai | -14.35% | -7.58% | -5.21% |
| Navient | -1.64% | 4.68% | 0.23% |
Institutional and Insider Ownership
2.0% of Yirendai shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.1% of Navient shares are held by institutional investors. 42.2% of Yirendai shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 33.8% of Navient shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Yirendai and Navient”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Yirendai | $817.84 million | 0.11 | $7.80 million | ($1.18) | -0.84 |
| Navient | $3.20 billion | 0.29 | -$80.00 million | ($0.50) | -19.56 |
Yirendai has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Navient. Navient is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Yirendai, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Navient beats Yirendai on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Yirendai
Yiren Digital Ltd. provides financial services through an AI-powered platform in China. Its platform provides a suite of financial and lifestyle services. The company offers financial services, which provides a portfolio of loan products to borrowers; insurance brokerage services; and consumption and lifestyle services, including non-financial products and services to meet various consumer needs. It supports clients at various growth stages, addressing financing needs arising from consumption and production activities, and augmenting the well-being and security of individuals, families, and businesses. The company was formerly known as Yirendai Ltd. and changed its name to Yiren Digital Ltd. in September 2019. Yiren Digital Ltd. was founded in 2012 and is based in Beijing, the People's Republic of China. Yiren Digital Ltd. operates as a subsidiary of CreditEase Holdings (Cayman) Limited.
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. It also owns, originates, and services refinance and in-school private education loans; and offers business processing solutions, such as omnichannel contact center, workflow processing, and revenue cycle optimization services to federal agencies, state governments, tolling and parking authorities, other public sector clients, as well as hospitals, hospital systems, medical centers, large physician groups, other healthcare providers, and public health departments. In addition, the company provides corporate liquidity portfolio services. Navient Corporation was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia.