Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Purchases 8,838 Shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 18.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 56,612 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,838 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.06% of Navient worth $715,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NAVI. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Navient by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 44,052 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $585,000 after acquiring an additional 823 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Navient by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 12,877 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,804 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Navient by 815.0% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,443 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Navient by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 23,460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 2,687 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Navient by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 374,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,982,000 after buying an additional 3,445 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Navient Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NAVI opened at $13.93 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35, a quick ratio of 9.49 and a current ratio of 9.48. Navient Co. has a 52-week low of $10.53 and a 52-week high of $16.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s fifty day moving average is $12.63 and its 200-day moving average is $13.42.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.09. Navient had a return on equity of 6.69% and a net margin of 2.96%. The business had revenue of $156.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $150.40 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Navient Co. will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is 128.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on NAVI shares. TD Cowen cut Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Navient from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Navient from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. TD Securities boosted their price target on Navient from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Navient from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.93.

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.