Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $11.88 and last traded at $11.83, with a volume of 86258 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $12.98.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NAVI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Navient from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Navient from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Navient presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.50.

Navient Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.41 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35, a quick ratio of 9.49 and a current ratio of 9.48.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.26 by ($0.01). Navient had a return on equity of 6.69% and a net margin of 2.96%. Equities research analysts expect that Navient Co. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NAVI. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Navient by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 44,052 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $585,000 after acquiring an additional 823 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in Navient by 12.6% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 14,173 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 1,587 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Navient by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 12,877 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $171,000 after buying an additional 1,804 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in Navient by 815.0% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,443 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176 shares during the period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in Navient by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 47,774 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $635,000 after acquiring an additional 2,190 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

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.