Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

Nelnet Price Performance

NYSE:NNI opened at $112.27 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.78, a quick ratio of 31.47 and a current ratio of 31.47. The firm has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.93 and a beta of 0.91. Nelnet has a 52 week low of $83.75 and a 52 week high of $127.32. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $107.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.32.

Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The credit services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by ($1.02). The business had revenue of $477.80 million during the quarter. Nelnet had a net margin of 5.54% and a return on equity of 3.78%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Nelnet will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Nelnet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Nelnet’s payout ratio is 36.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider William J. Munn sold 2,500 shares of Nelnet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.89, for a total value of $272,225.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,018,557.06. This trade represents a 21.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 50.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NNI. FMR LLC raised its stake in Nelnet by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 556 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in Nelnet by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 17,536 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,987,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in Nelnet by 7.4% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 2,279 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nelnet by 5.0% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 3,662 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $415,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crawford Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nelnet by 0.4% during the third quarter. Crawford Fund Management LLC now owns 57,787 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,546,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. 33.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Nelnet

Nelnet, Inc engages in loan servicing, communications, education technology, services, and payment processing businesses worldwide. The Loan Servicing and Systems segment provides loan conversion, application processing, borrower updates, customer service, payment processing, due diligence procedures, funds management reconciliation, and claim processing services.