Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Price Target Lowered to $16.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) had its price objective reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $17.00 to $16.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on NAVI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Navient from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Navient from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Navient in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a hold rating and a $19.00 price target on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Navient from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Navient from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Navient presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $16.30.

Navient Stock Performance

Shares of NAVI stock traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $15.74. 189,318 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 919,943. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.10. The company has a current ratio of 12.52, a quick ratio of 13.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.38. Navient has a 52-week low of $14.10 and a 52-week high of $19.69.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.05. Navient had a net margin of 3.93% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business had revenue of $163.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.04 million. Research analysts predict that Navient will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Navient

In other Navient news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total transaction of $172,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 385,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,631,924.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 27.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Navient

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NAVI. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Navient by 31.5% during the fourth quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,586,501 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $66,781,000 after purchasing an additional 858,890 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd acquired a new stake in Navient in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,546,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in Navient by 207.8% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 231,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,320,000 after acquiring an additional 156,086 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Navient by 115.9% in the first quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 283,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,924,000 after acquiring an additional 151,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Navient by 24.8% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 541,674 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,328,000 after acquiring an additional 107,543 shares in the last quarter. 97.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Navient Company Profile

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.