Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NVGS) – What Are Analysts Saying About This Stock?

Shares of Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $23.00.

NVGS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Navigator from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Navigator from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Navigator from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Navigator news, insider Oeyvind Lindeman sold 7,500 shares of Navigator stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.68, for a total value of $162,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $157,093.28. The trade was a 50.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Peter George Charles An Stokes sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.28, for a total value of $101,400.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $140,134.80. The trade was a 41.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Navigator

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Manhattan CO. LLC. grew its position in Navigator by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 1,430,009 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $24,768,000 after acquiring an additional 311,259 shares during the last quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Navigator by 62.7% during the 1st quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,034,216 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $19,991,000 after purchasing an additional 398,615 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Navigator by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 661,790 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $12,792,000 after purchasing an additional 108,467 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Navigator by 109.1% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 402,079 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $7,772,000 after buying an additional 209,760 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Navigator by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 324,935 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $6,281,000 after buying an additional 12,256 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 18.95% of the company’s stock.

Navigator Stock Down 2.4%

NVGS stock opened at $23.90 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a PE ratio of 11.01, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.48. Navigator has a 1-year low of $14.08 and a 1-year high of $25.48. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.74.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The shipping company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.32. Navigator had a return on equity of 10.45% and a net margin of 22.80%. The business had revenue of $167.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $139.46 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Navigator will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Navigator Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Navigator’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.90%.

About Navigator

Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NVGS), operating under the Navigator Gas name, is a maritime transportation company focused on the international seaborne shipment of liquefied gases. The company owns and operates a fleet of gas carriers that transport liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), ethylene, ammonia and other petrochemical gases.

Navigator’s vessels serve energy, petrochemical and industrial customers across major global trade routes. Its fleet includes ethylene-capable vessels, handysize gas carriers and larger liquefied gas carriers, allowing the company to transport cargoes between production centers, export terminals and importing markets.

In addition to its shipping operations, Navigator has invested in related midstream infrastructure.