Navient Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 5,501 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 2,610% compared to the average daily volume of 203 put options.

Insider Transactions at Navient

In other news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.00, for a total transaction of $160,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 393,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,297,776. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 27.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in Navient in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Navient by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,236 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 607 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Navient by 23.1% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,245 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 1,173 shares during the period. CI Investments Inc. boosted its position in Navient by 5,209.1% during the 3rd quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 9,291 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 9,116 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Navient by 1,762.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,310 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $173,000 after buying an additional 8,810 shares during the period. 97.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NAVI. 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, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Navient from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Navient from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.10.

Navient Stock Performance

NAVI stock traded down $0.31 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $14.26. The stock had a trading volume of 568,445 shares, compared to its average volume of 896,399. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a PE ratio of 9.14 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.38, a current ratio of 12.52 and a quick ratio of 12.52. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.67. Navient has a fifty-two week low of $13.96 and a fifty-two week high of $19.69.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $163.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.04 million. Navient had a net margin of 3.93% and a return on equity of 12.09%. Analysts predict that Navient will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is 41.03%.

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.