Semanteon Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Semanteon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 19,962 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $372,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Meritage Portfolio Management raised its stake in shares of Navient by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 31,279 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,667 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Navient by 90.3% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 113,415 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,112,000 after purchasing an additional 53,806 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Navient during the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,546,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Navient during the 4th quarter worth approximately $789,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of Navient by 207.8% during the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 231,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,320,000 after purchasing an additional 156,086 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Navient Price Performance

NASDAQ:NAVI traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $15.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 766,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 927,227. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.10. The company has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.13 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.38, a current ratio of 12.52 and a quick ratio of 13.63. Navient Co. has a twelve month low of $14.10 and a twelve month high of $19.69.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $163.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.04 million. Navient had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 3.93%. On average, analysts anticipate that Navient Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Navient’s payout ratio is 41.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NAVI shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on Navient from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. 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 note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Navient from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Navient in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $19.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.10.

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.