Nelnet, Inc. (NYSE:NNI) Raises Dividend to $0.33 Per Share

Nelnet, Inc. (NYSE:NNI) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.33 per share by the credit services provider on Monday, December 15th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This is a 10.0% increase from Nelnet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30.

Nelnet has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years. Nelnet has a dividend payout ratio of 14.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Nelnet to earn $5.90 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.3%.

Nelnet Trading Up 2.1%

NNI stock traded up $2.68 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $132.48. 22,889 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 69,578. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.77 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 29.41 and a current ratio of 29.42. The business has a 50 day moving average of $128.06 and a 200-day moving average of $121.78. Nelnet has a 52-week low of $98.15 and a 52-week high of $136.68.

Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $1.43. The company had revenue of $427.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $372.00 million. Nelnet had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 14.86%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Nelnet will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Nelnet

In related news, Director Thomas Edward Henning sold 3,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.87, for a total value of $399,754.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Shelby J. Butterfield sold 41,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.25, for a total transaction of $5,000,033.25. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 510 shares in the company, valued at $60,817.50. This trade represents a 98.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,125 shares of company stock valued at $6,056,252. 50.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nelnet

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Nelnet by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,353 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nelnet by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 772 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nelnet by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,050 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in Nelnet by 4.0% during the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 3,236 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Nelnet by 1.3% in the third quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,037 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,635,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.51% of the company’s stock.

Nelnet Company Profile

Nelnet, Inc engages in loan servicing, communications, education technology, services, and payment processing businesses worldwide. The Loan Servicing and Systems segment provides loan conversion, application processing, borrower updates, customer service, payment processing, due diligence procedures, funds management reconciliation, and claim processing services.