Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday.

Nelnet Price Performance

NYSE:NNI opened at $111.35 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $107.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $110.30. The firm has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.63 and a beta of 0.91. Nelnet has a 52-week low of $83.75 and a 52-week high of $127.32. The company has a quick ratio of 31.47, a current ratio of 31.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.78.

Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The credit services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by ($1.02). The company had revenue of $477.80 million during the quarter. Nelnet had a return on equity of 3.78% and a net margin of 5.54%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Nelnet will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nelnet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Nelnet’s dividend payout ratio is 36.84%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider William J. Munn sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.89, for a total transaction of $272,225.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,018,557.06. The trade was a 21.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 50.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nelnet

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NNI. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new position in shares of Nelnet during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Nelnet by 1,293.1% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nelnet by 20.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 556 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nelnet by 34,283.3% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,063 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 2,057 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nelnet by 7.4% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 2,279 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. 33.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.