Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Cuts Stake in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,100 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,400 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Navient were worth $594,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NAVI. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Navient during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Navient in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Navient by 22.1% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,797 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Navient in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $87,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Navient by 23.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,245 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,173 shares during the last quarter. 97.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on NAVI shares. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Navient in a research report on Monday, September 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $17.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Navient from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.78.

Navient Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Navient stock opened at $14.22 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.61 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.59, a quick ratio of 9.49 and a current ratio of 9.49. Navient Co. has a one year low of $13.71 and a one year high of $19.68. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $15.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.25.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $1.20. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $150.04 million. Navient had a net margin of 1.71% and a return on equity of 8.62%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Navient Co. will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.50%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.75%.

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.