Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) Insider Sells $135,820.30 in Stock

Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) insider Oeyvind Lindeman sold 6,259 shares of Navigator stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.70, for a total value of $135,820.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Navigator Stock Performance

NYSE NVGS traded up $0.40 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $22.10. 292,291 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 479,512. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.45, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.16. The business has a 50 day moving average of $21.25 and a 200-day moving average of $19.41. Navigator Holdings Ltd. has a 12-month low of $13.66 and a 12-month high of $24.36.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The shipping company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $140.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $139.35 million. Navigator had a net margin of 18.84% and a return on equity of 7.01%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Navigator Holdings Ltd. will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navigator Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Navigator’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.18%.

Institutional Trading of Navigator

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its stake in shares of Navigator by 1,124.1% in the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,677 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,540 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Navigator during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Navigator by 2,794.4% in the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,055 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,984 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Navigator in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new position in Navigator in the 3rd quarter worth $43,000. 18.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Research cut Navigator from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Navigator from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings lowered Navigator from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Navigator from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.33.

Navigator Company Profile

Navigator Holdings Ltd. is a global shipping company specializing in the seaborne transportation of liquefied gases. The company’s fleet is purpose-built to carry a range of petrochemical gases, including liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), ethylene, propylene and ammonia. Navigator’s vessels are designed to meet the stringent safety and environmental standards required for handling pressurized and refrigerated gases, offering flexible capacity to customers across the energy and chemical sectors.

Navigator operates one of the largest and most modern fleets of gas carriers in the industry, with vessels ranging from fully pressurized gas carriers to specialized very large ethane carriers (VLECs).