Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) Stake Lowered by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC decreased its stake in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 10.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 39,838 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 4,794 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Navient were worth $529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. increased its position in Navient by 27.8% in the third quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,581,311 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $55,833,000 after buying an additional 779,973 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Navient during the second quarter worth about $2,327,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Navient by 59.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 284,130 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,429,000 after acquiring an additional 105,454 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Navient in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,398,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Navient during the 3rd quarter valued at about $714,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on NAVI. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on Navient from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com lowered Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Navient has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.58.

Insider Activity at Navient

In other news, EVP Stephen M. Hauber sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $150,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 256,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,853,245. The trade was 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 available at this link. Company insiders own 27.99% of the company’s stock.

Navient Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NAVI stock opened at $13.67 on Friday. Navient Co. has a 1 year low of $12.73 and a 1 year high of $17.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.59, a quick ratio of 9.49 and a current ratio of 9.49. The business’s fifty day moving average is $14.17 and its 200-day moving average is $14.99. The stock has a market cap of $1.47 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 1.43.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by ($0.01). Navient had a return on equity of 6.64% and a net margin of 2.96%. Equities analysts expect that Navient Co. will post 1.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.68%. Navient’s payout ratio is currently 55.17%.

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.