Nelnet, Inc. (NNI) Key Metrics
NNI valuation today
Trailing 12 months · as of October 18, 2026- Market cap
- $4.56B
- Enterprise value
- $11.29B
- P/E (TTM)
- 15.2 10-yr median 10.3
- Forward P/E
- 13.1
- PEG ratio
- 0.46
- Price / sales
- 3.1 10-yr median 1.9
- Price / book
- 1.2 10-yr median 1.1
- EV / EBITDA
- — 10-yr median 41.9
- Dividend yield
- 0.73% $1.32 a year
- Beta
- 0.77
NNI key metrics, 2016–2025
Fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 · U.S. dollarsNNI valuation Price multiples at each fiscal year-end price.
NNI returns How much profit the business earns on the capital it uses.
NNI per-share figures Results divided by the shares outstanding at year-end.
NNI financial health Debt, liquidity and how easily interest is covered.
NNI efficiency & capital use Working capital cycle and where the cash goes.
NNI valuation history
NNI returns on capital
Net income (ROE, ROA) or after-tax operating income (ROIC) divided by the average of the opening and closing balance.
NNI debt vs cash
Debt includes short- and long-term borrowings and, where reported, lease liabilities.
NNI cash returned to shareholders
NNI price vs earnings per share
NNI key metrics
2016–2025| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valuation | ||||||||||
| Market capitalization | $4.83B | $3.91B | $3.30B | $3.41B | $3.71B | $2.74B | $2.30B | $2.14B | $2.29B | $2.17B |
| Enterprise value | $11.65B | $11.05B | $14.02B | $15.91B | $18.81B | $21.15B | $23.34B | $25.46B | $23.50B | $26.66B |
| P/E ratio | 11.3 | 21.3 | 36.7 | 8.4 | 9.4 | 7.8 | 16.2 | 9.4 | 13.2 | 8.4 |
| Price / sales | 2.1 | 2.1 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 2.0 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.9 | 1.8 |
| Price / book | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| Price / free cash flow | 12.2 | 6.1 | 9.2 | 5.5 | 7.6 | 27.6 | 11.2 | 14.7 | 32.0 | 8.4 |
| Price / operating cash flow | 11.4 | 5.9 | 7.6 | 5.0 | 6.8 | 12.9 | 7.7 | 7.9 | 10.1 | 6.7 |
| EV / sales | 5.1 | 6.0 | 7.7 | 8.8 | 13.3 | 15.4 | 13.9 | 15.2 | 19.9 | 22.3 |
| EV / EBITDA | 10.5 | 30.6 | 65.5 | 23.5 | 29.6 | 32.6 | 63.2 | 54.1 | 64.5 | 51.1 |
| EV / free cash flow | 29.4 | 17.2 | 39.1 | 25.5 | 38.7 | 212.6 | 113.1 | 174.6 | 328.6 | 103.5 |
| Earnings yield | 8.9% | 4.7% | 2.7% | 11.9% | 10.6% | 12.8% | 6.2% | 10.6% | 7.6% | 11.9% |
| Free cash flow yield | 8.2% | 16.4% | 10.9% | 18.3% | 13.1% | 3.6% | 9.0% | 6.8% | 3.1% | 11.9% |
| Dividend yield | 0.9% | 1.0% | 1.2% | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1.2% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.1% | 1.0% |
| Shareholder yield (dividends + buybacks) | 2.3% | 3.2% | 2.0% | 3.9% | 2.5% | 3.8% | 3.0% | 3.4% | 4.1% | 4.2% |
| Share price at fiscal year-end | $132.96 | $106.81 | $88.22 | $90.75 | $97.68 | $71.24 | $58.24 | $52.34 | $54.78 | $50.75 |
| Per share | ||||||||||
| Revenue per share | $62.30 | $50.40 | $48.49 | $48.32 | $37.37 | $35.65 | $42.45 | $41.07 | $28.19 | $27.98 |
| Earnings per share | $11.79 | $5.02 | $2.40 | $10.82 | $10.37 | $9.15 | $3.59 | $5.57 | $4.14 | $6.02 |
| Operating cash flow per share | $11.64 | $18.09 | $11.55 | $18.19 | $14.36 | $5.53 | $7.56 | $6.62 | $5.44 | $7.62 |
| Free cash flow per share | $10.92 | $17.52 | $9.59 | $16.61 | $12.81 | $2.58 | $5.22 | $3.57 | $1.71 | $6.04 |
| Cash per share | $26.80 | $32.16 | $29.56 | $56.82 | $69.69 | $37.99 | $10.97 | $4.69 | $3.53 | $4.13 |
| Book value per share | $101.46 | $91.42 | $86.96 | $85.10 | $77.82 | $68.26 | $60.50 | $56.58 | $51.43 | $48.32 |
| Tangible book value per share | $91.14 | $86.11 | $81.54 | $78.70 | $72.71 | $62.62 | $54.47 | $49.95 | $47.19 | $43.74 |
| Dividends per share | $1.18 | $1.11 | $1.05 | $0.97 | $0.91 | $0.83 | $0.75 | $0.66 | $0.58 | $0.50 |
| Capex per share | $0.72 | $0.57 | $1.98 | $1.58 | $1.55 | $2.94 | $2.34 | $3.06 | $3.73 | $1.58 |
| Debt per share | $214.54 | $226.78 | $316.12 | $389.26 | $467.76 | $516.00 | $543.32 | $574.83 | $511.02 | $578.14 |
| Shares outstanding | 36.3M | 36.6M | 37.4M | 37.6M | 37.9M | 38.5M | 39.5M | 40.9M | 41.8M | 42.7M |
| Change in shares outstanding | −0.9% | −2.1% | −0.5% | −0.9% | −1.5% | −2.6% | −3.4% | −2.1% | −2.1% | −6.3% |
| Returns & profitability | ||||||||||
| Return on equity (ROE) | 12.2% | 5.6% | 2.8% | 13.2% | 14.1% | 14.0% | 6.0% | 10.2% | 8.2% | 13.0% |
| Return on invested capital (ROIC) | 8.3% | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2.3% | 2.0% | 1.6% | 0.6% | 0.9% | 0.6% | 0.9% |
| Return on assets (ROA) | 3.1% | 1.2% | 0.5% | 2.0% | 1.8% | 1.5% | 0.6% | 0.9% | 0.7% | 0.9% |
| Return on tangible assets | 3.1% | 1.4% | 0.5% | 2.1% | 1.8% | 1.6% | 0.6% | 0.9% | 0.7% | 1.0% |
| Free cash flow margin | 17.5% | 34.8% | 19.8% | 34.4% | 34.3% | 7.2% | 12.3% | 8.7% | 6.1% | 21.6% |
| Income quality (OCF / net income) | 0.99 | 3.60 | 4.81 | 1.68 | 1.39 | 0.60 | 2.11 | 1.19 | 1.31 | 1.27 |
| Financial health | ||||||||||
| Total debt | $7.79B | $8.31B | $11.83B | $14.64B | $17.75B | $19.87B | $21.47B | $23.52B | $21.36B | $24.67B |
| Cash & short-term investments | $973.5M | $1.18B | $1.11B | $2.14B | $2.64B | $1.46B | $433.6M | $192.0M | $147.7M | $176.1M |
| Net debt | $6.82B | $7.13B | $10.72B | $12.50B | $15.10B | $18.41B | $21.04B | $23.32B | $21.21B | $24.49B |
| Debt / equity | 2.11 | 2.48 | 3.64 | 4.57 | 6.01 | 7.56 | 8.98 | 10.16 | 9.94 | 11.97 |
| Debt / assets | 0.55 | 0.60 | 0.71 | 0.76 | 0.82 | 0.88 | 0.91 | 0.93 | 0.89 | 0.91 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 6.12 | 19.75 | 50.08 | 18.44 | 23.81 | 28.36 | 56.96 | 49.52 | 58.19 | 46.98 |
| Current ratio | 382.15 | 0.64 | 0.56 | 1.19 | 22.22 | 2.70 | 1.32 | 0.26 | 0.26 | 0.25 |
| Quick ratio | 382.15 | 0.64 | 0.56 | 1.02 | 5.22 | −0.56 | −0.80 | 0.26 | 0.26 | 0.25 |
| Interest coverage | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 2.8 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 1.0 |
| Working capital | $1.81B | −$779.8M | −$1.05B | $2.74B | $2.69B | $983.7M | $317.9M | −$516.9M | −$337.2M | −$349.3M |
| Invested capital | $10.51B | $10.48B | $13.98B | $15.70B | $18.06B | $21.03B | $23.43B | $25.64B | $23.36B | $26.55B |
| Tangible asset value | $3.20B | $3.10B | $3.00B | $2.96B | $2.76B | $2.41B | $2.15B | $2.04B | $1.99B | $1.88B |
| Net current asset value | −$8.67B | −$9.11B | −$12.16B | $1.21B | −$15.91B | −$18.46B | −$20.01B | −$22.73B | −$21.68B | −$25.00B |
| Graham number | $164.08 | $101.64 | $68.54 | $143.94 | $134.72 | $118.56 | $69.88 | $84.22 | $69.25 | $80.88 |
| Graham net-net per share | −$244.53 | −$249.87 | −$326.56 | −$37.35 | −$392.05 | −$455.53 | −$485.23 | −$541.39 | −$509.08 | −$576.39 |
| Capital allocation | ||||||||||
| Dividends paid | $43.0M | $40.8M | $39.4M | $36.6M | $34.5M | $31.8M | $29.5M | $26.8M | $24.1M | $21.2M |
| Share buybacks (net) | $69.3M | $83.3M | $28.0M | $97.7M | $58.1M | $73.4M | $40.4M | $45.3M | $68.9M | $69.1M |
| Dividend payout ratio | 10.0% | 22.2% | 43.9% | 9.0% | 8.8% | 9.0% | 20.8% | 11.8% | 13.9% | 8.3% |
| Dividends + buybacks / free cash flow | 28.3% | 19.3% | 18.8% | 21.5% | 19.1% | 105.7% | 33.9% | 49.5% | 130.1% | 35.0% |
| Capex / revenue | 1.2% | 1.1% | 4.1% | 3.3% | 4.2% | 8.3% | 5.5% | 7.4% | 13.2% | 5.7% |
| Capex / operating cash flow | 6.2% | 3.2% | 17.1% | 8.7% | 10.8% | 53.2% | 30.9% | 46.2% | 68.6% | 20.8% |
| Capex / depreciation | 0.29 | 0.16 | 0.51 | 0.34 | 0.45 | 0.57 | 0.48 | 0.68 | 1.13 | 0.55 |
| Stock-based compensation / revenue | 0.6% | 0.7% | 1.0% | 0.8% | −4.9% | 1.2% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.4% |
| R&D / revenue | — | — | 0.0% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| SG&A / revenue | 28.8% | 34.2% | 34.5% | 32.5% | 35.8% | 36.6% | 27.6% | 26.0% | 25.6% | 21.4% |
| Efficiency | ||||||||||
| Days sales outstanding | 83.2 | 43.7 | 1,558.5 | 1,548.4 | 34.7 | 129.5 | 177.5 | 136.4 | 147.7 | 138.5 |
| Days of inventory on hand | — | — | — | 1,787.1 | 4,496.0 | 1,846.3 | 1,037.6 | — | — | — |
| Days payables outstanding | 25.8 | 14.0 | 15.3 | 17.9 | 42.7 | 35.2 | 26.9 | 29.4 | 36.4 | 35.1 |
| Cash conversion cycle (days) | 57.4 | 29.7 | 1,543.2 | 3,317.6 | 4,487.9 | 1,940.6 | 1,188.1 | 107.0 | 111.3 | 103.4 |
| Receivables turnover | 4.39 | 8.35 | 0.23 | 0.24 | 10.53 | 2.82 | 2.06 | 2.68 | 2.47 | 2.64 |
| Payables turnover | 14.15 | 26.05 | 23.89 | 20.35 | 8.54 | 10.36 | 13.55 | 12.40 | 10.02 | 10.41 |
| Inventory turnover | — | — | — | 0.20 | 0.08 | 0.20 | 0.35 | — | — | — |
| Asset turnover | 0.16 | 0.12 | 0.10 | 0.09 | 0.06 | 0.06 | 0.07 | 0.07 | 0.05 | 0.04 |
| Average receivables | $515.8M | $221.1M | $7.75B | $7.71B | $134.7M | $487.1M | $815.7M | $628.1M | $476.7M | $453.0M |
| Average payables | $20.7M | $28.2M | $35.7M | $22.9M | $19.2M | $38.0M | $54.5M | $55.9M | $47.9M | $38.6M |
| Average inventory | — | — | — | $2.28B | $2.02B | $1.99B | $2.10B | — | $0 | $0 |
| Intangibles / total assets | 2.7% | 1.4% | 1.2% | 1.2% | 0.9% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1.1% | 0.7% | 0.7% |
Computed from NNI's annual financial statements (latest annual report filed February 26, 2026) and the closing share price on each fiscal year-end, adjusted for stock splits. Figures in U.S. dollars; data from EODHD. Averages use the opening and closing balance of each year.
NNI valuation and financial ratios
At the end of fiscal 2025 (December 31, 2025), Nelnet traded at 11.3 times earnings, against a 10-year median of 10.3. Based on the latest twelve months, the trailing P/E is 15.2 and the forward P/E is 13.1. Nelnet earned a return on equity of 12.2% and a return on invested capital of 8.3% in fiscal 2025. It ended the year with $7.8 billion of debt and $973.5 million in cash and short-term investments, net debt of $6.8 billion. It returned $112.3 million to shareholders: $43.0 million in dividends and $69.3 million in share buybacks, 28% of free cash flow. The share count fell 14.9% from 42.7M to 36.3M over 9 years.
See the NNI income statement, the NNI chart for price history, or the NNI stock overview for the latest quote and news.
NNI key metrics FAQ
What is Nelnet's P/E ratio?
Nelnet's trailing P/E ratio is 15.2 based on the last twelve months of earnings (as of October 18, 2026), and its forward P/E is 13.1. At the end of fiscal 2025 it was 11.3, compared with a 10-year median of 10.3.
What is Nelnet's EV/EBITDA?
Nelnet's enterprise value was 10.5 times EBITDA at the end of fiscal 2025 (enterprise value $11.7 billion, EBITDA $1.1 billion).
What is Nelnet's return on equity?
Nelnet's return on equity (ROE) was 12.2% in fiscal 2025: net income of $428.5 million on average shareholders' equity of $3.5 billion.
What is Nelnet's ROIC?
Nelnet's return on invested capital was 8.3% in fiscal 2025, using after-tax operating income divided by average debt plus equity minus cash.
How much debt does Nelnet have?
Nelnet had total debt of $7.8 billion at the end of fiscal 2025, a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.11 and $6.8 billion of net debt (6.12 times EBITDA).
What is Nelnet's dividend yield?
Nelnet's forward dividend yield is 0.73%. Nelnet paid $43.0 million in dividends in fiscal 2025 ($1.18 per share), a payout ratio of 10.0%.
Does Nelnet buy back its shares?
Yes. Nelnet spent $69.3 million on net share repurchases in fiscal 2025 Shares outstanding changed −0.9% over the year, to 36.3M..
What is Nelnet's free cash flow yield?
Nelnet generated $396.7 million of free cash flow in fiscal 2025, a free cash flow yield of 8.2% on its market value at year-end ($4.8 billion).
What is Nelnet's current ratio?
Nelnet's current ratio was 382.15 at the end of fiscal 2025: current assets were 382.15 times current liabilities.