Navient Corp (NAVI)

The past six months have seen several significant events impacting Navient's stock price and strategic direction. Navient reported adjusted core EPS of $0.29 for Q3 2025, surpassing analyst consensus, and beat on revenue with $146 million. The company is executing a cost-cutting plan and focusing on growth in its private education loan business, Earnest, and is on track to exceed its $400 million operating expense reduction target. By October 21, 2024, MOHELA took over Navient's remaining student loan servicing operations. Navient completed the sale of its healthcare services business in September 2024 and its government services business in February 2025. The Consumer Lending segment posted a net loss of $76 million in Q3 2025, and the delinquency rate for private education loans over 30 days reached 6.1% as of September 30, 2025, but the full-year 2025 loan origination forecast for Earnest was revised upward. In January 2026, Navient named Steve Hauber as its CFO. As of January 2026, Navient's stock price crossed below its 50-day moving average, and analysts have given Navient a consensus rating of "Reduce". The ex-dividend date for the fourth quarter common stock dividend was December 4, 2025.

Demand seasonality for Navient's products and services is primarily tied to the academic calendar and broader economic factors influencing student lending and refinancing. New loan originations through Earnest are likely to exhibit seasonality, with potential peaks around key academic enrollment periods. Demand for student loan refinancing may be less directly seasonal but can be influenced by prevailing interest rates and economic conditions. For its existing FFELP loan portfolio, demand seasonality is more about the consistent management and repayment cycles of these long-term assets. Navient's demand seasonality is increasingly linked to the cycles of private education lending and refinancing markets.

Navient Corporation, established in 2014 from the split of Sallie Mae, is a financial services company operating in education and consumer finance. The company focuses on maximizing cash flow from legacy student loan portfolios and expanding its consumer lending division. Navient manages existing federally guaranteed student loans, focusing on maximizing cash flows, and ceased federal student loan servicing in December 2021, with its remaining portfolio transferred to MOHELA by October 21, 2024. Through its Earnest brand, Navient originates and services private education loans, including refinancing and in-school loans, targeting borrowers with strong credit quality. Navient previously offered business processing solutions but has been divesting these non-core segments, selling its healthcare services business in September 2024 and its government services business in February 2025.

Navient Corp. is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, with operations primarily across the United States. Its subsidiaries have included entities like Duncan Solutions, Earnest, Municipal Services Bureau (MSB), Navient BPO, Navient Portfolio Management, and Pioneer Credit Recovery, Inc.

Navient's brand reputation in the past year has been significantly impacted by ongoing legal and regulatory issues, as well as widespread customer complaints. In September 2024, the CFPB permanently banned Navient from servicing federal Direct Loans and most FFELP loans, ordering Navient to pay a $20 million penalty and provide $100 million in redress to borrowers for steering them into costly repayment options. This action followed a history of regulatory violations and lawsuits against Navient and its predecessor, Sallie Mae. Customer reviews and complaints frequently cite issues such as poor customer service, difficulty reaching representatives, misinformation regarding loans and credit scores, overcharges, and hidden fees.

Navient's ownership is heavily dominated by institutional investors, who held approximately 99.91% of the company's shares as of June 2025. Mutual funds represent a significant portion of this institutional ownership, accounting for 58.47% during the same period. Major institutional owners include Sherborne Investors Management LP, BlackRock, Inc., Dimensional Fund Advisors Lp, Vanguard Group Inc, iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF, State Street Corp, Lsv Asset Management, Orbis Allan Gray Ltd, American Century Companies Inc, and Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Insider holdings, which include shares owned by executives and directors, constituted 1.09% as of June 2025. Key individual owners as of late 2024 and early 2025 included David L. Yowan (President and CEO) with 0.3% of shares, Joe Fisher with 0.17%, and Stephen M. Hauber with 0.15%.