Donald Smith & CO. Inc. Has $66.78 Million Holdings in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lifted its stake in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 31.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,586,501 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 858,890 shares during the period. Navient makes up approximately 1.7% of Donald Smith & CO. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Donald Smith & CO. Inc.’s holdings in Navient were worth $66,781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NAVI. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in Navient in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,441,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Navient during the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,546,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Navient by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,138,526 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $19,605,000 after acquiring an additional 78,186 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in Navient by 207.8% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 231,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,320,000 after acquiring an additional 156,086 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Navient by 21.9% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 196,938 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,395,000 after purchasing an additional 35,386 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Navient

In other news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of Navient stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total transaction of $172,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 27.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NAVI. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Navient in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “hold” rating and a $19.00 price objective for the company. Stephens cut Navient from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $16.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Navient from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Navient from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Navient has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.10.

Navient Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Navient stock traded down $0.17 during trading on Monday, hitting $15.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 781,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 925,447. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $16.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.08. Navient Co. has a 52 week low of $14.10 and a 52 week high of $19.69. The stock has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.08 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 12.52.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.05. Navient had a net margin of 3.93% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company had revenue of $163.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.04 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Navient Co. will post 1.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Announces Dividend

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

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.