Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Now Covered by Bank of America

Stock analysts at Bank of America started coverage on shares of Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) in a research report issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm set a “neutral” rating and a $17.00 price target on the credit services provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 11.70% from the company’s previous close.

NAVI has been the topic of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Navient from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Navient from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.70.

Navient Price Performance

Shares of Navient stock opened at $15.22 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 9.99, a quick ratio of 9.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.30. Navient has a 12 month low of $13.95 and a 12 month high of $19.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $15.59 and a 200 day moving average of $15.53. The firm has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.76 and a beta of 1.39.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.14). Navient had a net margin of 3.41% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.27 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Navient will post 1.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Navient in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,813,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in Navient during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,345,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Navient by 90.9% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 386,379 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,723,000 after buying an additional 183,969 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Navient by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,582,928 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $23,047,000 after buying an additional 171,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Navient during the second quarter valued at $2,327,000. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.