Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Takes $1.23 Million Position in Navient Corporation $NAVI

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 150,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,227,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Navient by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 98,366 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,243,000 after purchasing an additional 10,296 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Navient by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 210,350 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,657,000 after purchasing an additional 17,483 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Navient by 77.0% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,766 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 3,378 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Navient by 13.5% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 438,621 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,185,000 after purchasing an additional 52,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Navient by 6.4% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 276,778 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,903,000 after buying an additional 16,611 shares in the last quarter. 97.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on NAVI shares. Bank of America initiated coverage on Navient in a report on Monday, April 20th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $7.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Navient from $12.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 16th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Navient from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Navient from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $9.21.

Navient Trading Up 2.6%

NASDAQ NAVI traded up $0.21 on Friday, hitting $8.24. 882,406 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,085,687. Navient Corporation has a 52-week low of $7.33 and a 52-week high of $15.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.49, a current ratio of 7.67 and a quick ratio of 7.67. The company has a market capitalization of $774.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.08 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $8.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.35.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $152.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $141.47 million. Navient had a positive return on equity of 4.39% and a negative net margin of 1.94%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.25 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Navient Corporation will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is currently -101.59%.

Navient Company Profile

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ: NAVI) is a specialized provider of asset management and business processing solutions, with a primary focus on student loan servicing. Established in 2014 through the separation from Sallie Mae, Navient assumed responsibility for servicing federal and private education loans, positioning itself as one of the largest servicers of higher education debt in the United States.

The company’s core activities center on federal student loan servicing under contracts with the U.S.