Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The shipping company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.32, Zacks reports. Navigator had a return on equity of 7.01% and a net margin of 18.84%.

Navigator Price Performance

NYSE NVGS traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $21.39. 445,282 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 418,810. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.56. Navigator has a 1 year low of $14.08 and a 1 year high of $24.36. The company has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.46.

Navigator Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Navigator’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on NVGS. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Navigator from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Navigator from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Navigator from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have issued a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.33.

Insider Transactions at Navigator

In related news, insider Oeyvind Lindeman sold 6,259 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.70, for a total transaction of $135,820.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Michael Schroder sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.63, for a total value of $590,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $118,150. This represents a 83.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing.

Institutional Trading of Navigator

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Navigator by 16.4% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 542,756 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $7,224,000 after acquiring an additional 76,287 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Navigator by 18.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 50,885 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $677,000 after purchasing an additional 7,777 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in Navigator by 674.7% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 85,843 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,143,000 after buying an additional 74,762 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Navigator during the second quarter valued at about $5,677,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Navigator by 118.1% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 79,438 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,124,000 after buying an additional 43,008 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 18.95% of the company’s stock.

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).