Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Lowers Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Price Target to $14.00

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) had its price objective cut by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $16.00 to $14.00 in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on NAVI. StockNews.com cut Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Navient currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.50.

Navient Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ NAVI opened at $12.63 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35, a current ratio of 9.48 and a quick ratio of 9.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $13.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 1.36. Navient has a 1 year low of $12.51 and a 1 year high of $17.56.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by ($0.01). Navient had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 6.69%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Navient will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is 55.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Navient

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Navient by 1,043.8% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 635,466 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,445,000 after purchasing an additional 579,909 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Navient by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,315,841 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,488,000 after acquiring an additional 423,013 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL increased its holdings in Navient by 1,088.8% in the 4th quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 460,646 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,122,000 after acquiring an additional 421,898 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Navient in the 4th quarter worth about $4,009,000. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Navient in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,717,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

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.