Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after Bank of America downgraded the stock from a neutral rating to an underperform rating. The stock had previously closed at $13.64, but opened at $13.03. Bank of America now has a $12.00 price target on the stock. Navient shares last traded at $13.21, with a volume of 371,965 shares changing hands.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Navient from $12.50 to $15.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Navient from $16.50 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Navient from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Navient has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $13.06.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NAVI. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Navient in the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Navient in the first quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Navient by 15.7% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 7,303 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 993 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Navient by 2,663.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,096 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 7,803 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Navient by 77.0% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,766 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 3,378 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Navient Stock Down 0.3%

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.28. The company has a quick ratio of 9.94, a current ratio of 9.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.29 and a beta of 1.35.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.06). Navient had a return on equity of 4.08% and a net margin of 0.89%.The business had revenue of $156.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.20 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. Navient has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.950-1.050 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Navient Corporation will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is presently 206.45%.

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.