Cerity Partners LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 82.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 38,323 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,349 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Navient were worth $597,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Navient during the second quarter valued at about $50,000. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Navient by 47.0% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,355 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Navient by 22.1% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,797 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 869 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Navient during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $87,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Navient in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $95,000. 97.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Stephen M. Hauber sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $150,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 256,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,853,245. This represents a 3.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 27.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Navient from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Navient in a research note on Monday, September 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $17.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Navient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.75.

Navient Price Performance

NASDAQ NAVI opened at $15.19 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $15.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.19. Navient Co. has a 52 week low of $13.71 and a 52 week high of $19.68. The company has a quick ratio of 9.49, a current ratio of 9.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.01 and a beta of 1.40.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $1.20. Navient had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 1.71%. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $150.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Navient Co. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.75%.

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.