Navigator Holdings Ltd. $NVGS Position Lifted by Hodges Capital Management Inc.

Hodges Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 421,886 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,391 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Navigator were worth $5,970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of NVGS. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Navigator by 2.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 130,616 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,738,000 after buying an additional 2,911 shares during the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Navigator by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 73,649 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $980,000 after buying an additional 6,476 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Navigator by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 50,885 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $677,000 after acquiring an additional 7,777 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in shares of Navigator by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,010,684 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $13,452,000 after acquiring an additional 9,570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Navigator during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $133,000. Institutional investors own 18.95% of the company’s stock.

Navigator Stock Performance

Shares of NVGS opened at $17.03 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $15.94 and a 200-day moving average of $15.20. The company has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 1.59. Navigator Holdings Ltd. has a 1 year low of $10.55 and a 1 year high of $17.66.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The shipping company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36. The business had revenue of $153.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $133.84 million. Navigator had a net margin of 15.57% and a return on equity of 6.56%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Navigator Holdings Ltd. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Navigator Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. This is a boost from Navigator’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 25th. Navigator’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on NVGS. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Navigator in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Navigator from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Navigator in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Navigator from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.50.

Navigator Profile

Navigator Holdings Ltd. engages in owning and operating a fleet of liquefied gas carriers worldwide. It provides international and regional seaborne transportation services of petrochemical gases, liquefied petroleum gases, and ammonia for energy companies, industrial users, and commodity traders. The company also offers ship shore infrastructure and consultancy services.