EMC Capital Management Grows Holdings in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

EMC Capital Management grew its position in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 2,193.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 20,276 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,392 shares during the period. EMC Capital Management’s holdings in Navient were worth $269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NAVI. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Navient by 47.0% during the third 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 during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Navient in the 3rd quarter valued at about $87,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Navient in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $95,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position 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 buying an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new position in shares of Navient during the 3rd quarter valued at about $174,000. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NAVI has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Navient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Navient from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.58.

Insider Activity at Navient

In related news, EVP Stephen M. Hauber sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 256,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,853,245. This represents a 3.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 27.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Navient Stock Performance

NAVI stock traded up $0.03 on Thursday, hitting $14.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 34,781 shares, compared to its average volume of 823,122. The stock has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $14.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.01. The company has a current ratio of 9.49, a quick ratio of 9.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.59. Navient Co. has a 1 year low of $12.73 and a 1 year high of $17.86.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by ($0.01). Navient had a net margin of 1.71% and a return on equity of 8.62%. Equities analysts predict that Navient Co. will post 2.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Navient’s payout ratio is currently 92.75%.

Navient 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.