Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Cuts Stock Position in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans decreased its holdings in shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 7.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 61,861 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 4,977 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Navient were worth $964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NAVI. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. increased its position in shares of Navient by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,581,311 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $55,833,000 after purchasing an additional 779,973 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Navient by 12.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,582,928 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $23,047,000 after buying an additional 171,160 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Navient by 5.4% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 444,467 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,929,000 after acquiring an additional 22,646 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Navient by 0.9% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 322,820 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,700,000 after acquiring an additional 2,991 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Navient by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 240,209 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,466,000 after acquiring an additional 31,983 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Navient

In other news, EVP Stephen M. Hauber sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total value of $150,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 256,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,853,245. This represents a 3.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 27.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Navient in a report on Monday, September 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen cut their target price on Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Navient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Navient from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Navient from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Navient currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.75.

Navient Trading Down 1.9 %

NASDAQ NAVI opened at $15.28 on Tuesday. Navient Co. has a 52 week low of $13.71 and a 52 week high of $19.68. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $15.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.19. The company has a quick ratio of 9.49, a current ratio of 9.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.59. The firm has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a PE ratio of 22.15 and a beta of 1.39.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $1.20. The business had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $150.04 million. Navient had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 1.71%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Navient Co. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is presently 92.75%.

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.