Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Upgraded by Seaport Res Ptn to Strong-Buy Rating

Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Navient’s FY2025 earnings at $1.25 EPS.

NAVI has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Navient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Navient from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.58.

Navient Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ NAVI opened at $14.26 on Tuesday. Navient has a 52 week low of $12.73 and a 52 week high of $18.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $14.31 and its 200 day moving average is $15.01. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67 and a beta of 1.43.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $1.20. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $150.04 million. Navient had a net margin of 1.71% and a return on equity of 8.62%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Navient will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.75%.

Insider Activity

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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 27.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NAVI. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Navient by 47.0% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,355 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Navient in the third quarter valued at $87,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Navient during the third quarter valued at $95,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Navient by 24.6% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Navient in the 2nd quarter valued at about $121,000. 97.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.