Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) Price Target Raised to $135.00

Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) had its price objective increased by TD Cowen from $130.00 to $135.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on NNI. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nelnet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Nelnet in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $135.00.

Nelnet Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NNI opened at $130.27 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $128.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.58. Nelnet has a fifty-two week low of $98.15 and a fifty-two week high of $136.68. The company has a market capitalization of $4.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.43 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 29.42 and a quick ratio of 29.41.

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

Nelnet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a boost from Nelnet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Nelnet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas Edward Henning sold 3,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.87, for a total value of $399,754.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Shelby J. Butterfield sold 41,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.25, for a total value of $5,000,033.25. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,817.50. This represents a 98.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 50,125 shares of company stock worth $6,056,252 in the last three months. Company insiders own 50.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nelnet

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NNI. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Nelnet by 6.5% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,353 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nelnet by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,050 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nelnet by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 3,236 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 33.51% of the company’s stock.

About Nelnet

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.