Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) Shares Purchased by Donald Smith & CO. Inc.

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its position in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 31.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,586,501 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 858,890 shares during the quarter. Navient accounts for about 1.7% of Donald Smith & CO. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. owned approximately 3.05% of Navient worth $66,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Navient by 314.6% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,193 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,664 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Navient by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,236 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Navient by 367.7% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 6,795 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 5,342 shares during the last quarter. CI Investments Inc. increased its stake in Navient by 5,209.1% during the third quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 9,291 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 9,116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Navient by 1,762.0% in 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Navient Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ NAVI traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $15.55. 781,336 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 925,447. The business has a 50 day moving average of $16.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 1.38. Navient Co. has a 1 year low of $14.10 and a 1 year high of $19.69. The company has a quick ratio of 12.52, a current ratio of 12.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.38.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $163.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.04 million. Navient had a net margin of 3.93% and a return on equity of 12.09%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Navient Co. will post 1.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.12%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NAVI has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Navient from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Navient in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $19.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stephens cut Navient from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $16.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Navient has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Navient news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total value of $172,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 385,577 shares in the company, valued at $6,631,924.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 27.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.