Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) Director Sells $101,400.00 in Stock

Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) Director Peter George Charles An Stokes sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.28, for a total value of $101,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $140,134.80. This trade represents a 41.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Navigator Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Navigator stock opened at $20.99 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.71. Navigator Holdings Ltd. has a 52-week low of $14.08 and a 52-week high of $24.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.62.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The shipping company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $167.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $139.46 million. Navigator had a return on equity of 10.45% and a net margin of 22.80%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Navigator Holdings Ltd. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navigator Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. Navigator’s payout ratio is currently 12.90%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Navigator

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Navigator during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,677,000. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Navigator by 62.7% in the 1st quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,034,216 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $19,991,000 after buying an additional 398,615 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Navigator in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,091,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. bought a new position in Navigator in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,773,000. Finally, First Manhattan CO. LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Navigator by 27.8% during the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 1,430,009 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $24,768,000 after buying an additional 311,259 shares during the last quarter. 18.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on NVGS shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Navigator from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Navigator from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Citigroup raised their target price on Navigator from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Navigator from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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).