Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Cuts Stake in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund reduced its stake in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 44,055 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 4,327 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Navient were worth $585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Navient by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,149,599 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $15,278,000 after buying an additional 10,788 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Navient by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 374,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,982,000 after acquiring an additional 3,445 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in Navient by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 343,341 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,563,000 after acquiring an additional 18,760 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP raised its stake in Navient by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 21,526 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 6,800 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Navient by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 467,232 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,210,000 after acquiring an additional 22,765 shares during the period. 97.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Navient Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NAVI opened at $13.91 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $13.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.78. Navient Co. has a twelve month low of $12.73 and a twelve month high of $17.56. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a PE ratio of 11.99 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 9.49, a current ratio of 9.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 6.69%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Navient Co. will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Navient’s payout ratio is 55.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NAVI. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Navient from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.90.

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.