Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Reduces Position in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 320,173 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 14,913 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned about 0.30% of Navient worth $4,255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Navient during the fourth quarter worth approximately $167,000. Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new stake in shares of Navient in the 3rd quarter worth about $174,000. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Navient in the 4th quarter valued at about $196,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Navient by 12.6% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 14,173 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 1,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Navient in the third quarter worth about $256,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Navient from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Navient from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Navient presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.50.

Navient Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Navient stock opened at $12.62 on Wednesday. Navient Co. has a 1-year low of $12.35 and a 1-year high of $17.56. The company has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $13.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35, a current ratio of 9.48 and a quick ratio of 9.49.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.26 by ($0.01). Navient had a return on equity of 6.69% and a net margin of 2.96%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Navient Co. will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.07%. Navient’s payout ratio is 55.17%.

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.