Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) EVP Mark L. Heleen Sells 10,000 Shares

Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.00, for a total value of $160,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 393,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,297,776. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Navient Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NAVI opened at $15.47 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.92 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.38, a current ratio of 12.52 and a quick ratio of 12.52. Navient Co. has a 1-year low of $14.10 and a 1-year high of $19.69. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $16.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.99.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $163.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.04 million. Navient had a net margin of 3.93% and a return on equity of 12.09%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Navient Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on NAVI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Navient in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “hold” rating and a $19.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Navient from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Navient from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.10.

Institutional Trading of Navient

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Navient during the 4th quarter worth $2,441,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd purchased a new stake in Navient during the fourth quarter worth about $13,546,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Navient by 7.4% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,138,526 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $19,605,000 after buying an additional 78,186 shares during the period. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. increased its holdings in Navient by 31.5% in 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 buying an additional 858,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in shares of Navient by 207.8% during the 4th 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 during the period. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.