Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $21.60.

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut Navigator from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NVGS. First Sabrepoint Capital Management LP boosted its position in Navigator by 266.4% in the fourth quarter. First Sabrepoint Capital Management LP now owns 682,516 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $10,477,000 after purchasing an additional 496,220 shares during the last quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. grew its stake in shares of Navigator by 25.1% during the 4th quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 1,034,596 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $15,881,000 after acquiring an additional 207,851 shares during the period. 683 Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Navigator in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,916,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its stake in Navigator by 284.3% during the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 206,108 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,743,000 after acquiring an additional 152,470 shares during the period. Finally, Man Group plc raised its stake in Navigator by 159.9% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 203,441 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,123,000 after acquiring an additional 125,178 shares during the period. 18.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Navigator Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Navigator stock opened at $15.76 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.31 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Navigator has a 12-month low of $10.55 and a 12-month high of $17.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $14.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.55.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The shipping company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.06. Navigator had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The business had revenue of $151.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $128.26 million. On average, analysts forecast that Navigator will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navigator Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Navigator’s payout ratio is presently 15.63%.

Navigator Company Profile

Navigator Holdings Ltd. engages in owning and operating a fleet of liquefied gas carriers worldwide. It provides international and regional seaborne transportation services of petrochemical gases, liquefied petroleum gases, and ammonia for energy companies, industrial users, and commodity traders. The company also offers ship shore infrastructure and consultancy services.