Zacks Investment Research Downgrades Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) to Sell

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) was downgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Monday, July 17th.

According to Zacks, “Navient’s shares have outperformed the Zacks categorized Consumer Loan industry over the past one year. However, estimates have declined lately ahead of the company’s Q2 earnings release. Also, the company has mixed record of earnings surprises in recent quarters. The U.S. student loan industry is currently under heightened regulatory scrutiny over alleged anti-consumer practices. Navient, which services large number of student loans, is under regulatory claims and litigation burden owing to its practices in handling loans. Moreover, elevated expenses remain a key concern for the company. Nevertheless, the company benefits from the ongoing economic recovery and remains focused on leveraging its asset recovery & processing businesses.”

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on NAVI. BidaskClub raised Navient Corporation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 17th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $16.50 target price on shares of Navient Corporation in a research note on Tuesday, April 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Navient Corporation in a research note on Friday, July 14th. Barclays PLC set a $20.00 target price on Navient Corporation and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 12th. Finally, Jefferies Group LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Navient Corporation in a research note on Monday, June 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Navient Corporation has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.55.

Shares of Navient Corporation (NAVI) traded up 1.83% during midday trading on Monday, hitting $13.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,458,982 shares. The company has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.22 and a beta of 2.43. Navient Corporation has a 1-year low of $12.66 and a 1-year high of $17.95. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $15.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.08.

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 18th. The credit services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $343 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $331.67 million. Navient Corporation had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 11.50%. Navient Corporation’s quarterly revenue was down 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Navient Corporation will post $1.76 EPS for the current year.

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Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NAVI. Nicolet Bankshares Inc. raised its position in shares of Navient Corporation by 0.3% in the first quarter. Nicolet Bankshares Inc. now owns 18,405 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Navient Corporation by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 10,420 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $171,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial For Lutherans raised its position in shares of Navient Corporation by 1.0% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial For Lutherans now owns 10,770 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Bronfman E.L. Rothschild L.P. raised its position in shares of Navient Corporation by 1.7% in the first quarter. Bronfman E.L. Rothschild L.P. now owns 6,952 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Navient Corporation by 1.3% in the second quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,150 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.37% of the company’s stock.

About Navient Corporation

Navient Corporation provides asset management and business processing services to education, healthcare and government clients at the federal, state and local levels. The Company holds the portfolio of education loans insured or federally guaranteed under the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP).

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