Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Stock Lifted to Strong-Buy by Zacks Research

by · The Cerbat Gem

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI – Free Report) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks reports.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Navient in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Barclays dropped their price target on Navient from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Navient from $8.00 to $8.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $8.17.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Navient

Navient Stock Performance

NAVI opened at $9.42 on Monday. Navient has a 52-week low of $7.33 and a 52-week high of $13.48. The company has a quick ratio of 10.53, a current ratio of 10.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.73. The company has a market cap of $883.41 million, a P/E ratio of -18.84 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $9.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.72.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $150.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter last year, the business posted $0.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Navient will post 0.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. Navient’s payout ratio is presently -128.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NAVI. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Navient by 552.6% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 4,855 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 4,111 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Navient by 325.6% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,005 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 3,829 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Navient in the 1st quarter worth about $72,000. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Navient in the 2nd quarter valued at about $87,000. Finally, Greenwood Gearhart LLC bought a new stake in Navient in the 1st quarter valued at about $84,000. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Navient

(Get Free Report)

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.

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