Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $23.3333.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Navigator from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Navigator from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Navigator from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Navigator from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 15th.

Insider Activity at Navigator

In related news, insider Oeyvind Lindeman sold 6,259 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The shares were 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Schroder sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.63, for a total transaction of $590,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $118,150. This trade represents a 83.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information.

Institutional Trading of Navigator

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Navigator by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,680 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Navigator by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 4,696 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Navigator by 37.4% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,627 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in Navigator by 3.7% in the third quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 37,394 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $579,000 after acquiring an additional 1,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Navigator by 8.0% in the third quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 18,194 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,353 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 18.95% of the company’s stock.

Navigator Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE NVGS opened at $22.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.16. Navigator has a one year low of $13.66 and a one year high of $24.36. The firm has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.44.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The shipping company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.16. Navigator had a net margin of 18.84% and a return on equity of 7.01%. The business had revenue of $140.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $139.35 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Navigator will post 1.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navigator Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be issued a $0.07 dividend. 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 17.18%.

About Navigator

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).