Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Stock Passes Below Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) shares passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $15.06 and traded as low as $13.04. Navient shares last traded at $13.08, with a volume of 961,755 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on NAVI. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Navient from $15.50 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Navient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Navient from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Navient presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.83.

Navient Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.59, a current ratio of 9.49 and a quick ratio of 9.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77 and a beta of 1.43.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $1.20. Navient had a net margin of 1.71% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $150.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Navient Co. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.94%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is 92.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Stephen M. Hauber sold 10,000 shares of Navient stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $3,853,245. This trade represents a 3.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 27.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Navient

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Navient by 1.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 46,534 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in shares of Navient by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 45,584 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $711,000 after buying an additional 1,218 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Navient by 47.0% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,355 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in shares of Navient by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 13,944 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,440 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Navient by 24.6% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 7,360 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

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.