Empowered Funds LLC Has $6.21 Million Holdings in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 467,232 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 22,765 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 0.44% of Navient worth $6,210,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Navient by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,581,311 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $55,833,000 after acquiring an additional 779,973 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Navient by 1.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,092,270 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,028,000 after purchasing an additional 19,606 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Navient by 0.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 892,828 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $13,919,000 after purchasing an additional 8,117 shares during the period. Stadium Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Navient by 6.7% during the third quarter. Stadium Capital Management LLC now owns 340,170 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,303,000 after buying an additional 21,385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Navient by 59.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 284,130 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,429,000 after buying an additional 105,454 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on NAVI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.90.

Navient Price Performance

Navient stock opened at $13.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $14.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.92. Navient Co. has a 12 month low of $12.73 and a 12 month high of $17.56. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a PE ratio of 11.66 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 9.48, a quick ratio of 9.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $0.25 EPS 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%. Analysts expect that Navient Co. will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.73%. 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.