Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE:NMM) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Navios Maritime Partners LP (NYSE:NMM)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday. The stock had previously closed at $93.06, but opened at $96.60. Navios Maritime Partners shares last traded at $96.41, with a volume of 5,814 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on NMM. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Navios Maritime Partners from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Navios Maritime Partners from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Navios Maritime Partners Trading Down 2.4%

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a PE ratio of 6.79 and a beta of 1.05.

Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE:NMM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 27th. The shipping company reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $410.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $360.83 million. Navios Maritime Partners had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 30.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.15 earnings per share.

Navios Maritime Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Navios Maritime Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 1.57%.

Insider Transactions at Navios Maritime Partners

In other Navios Maritime Partners news, insider Angeliki Frangou purchased 1,062 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $79.16 per share, for a total transaction of $84,067.92. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 4,790,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,247,723.16. This represents a 0.02% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $1,457,662.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Navios Maritime Partners by 57.6% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 199,141 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $13,438,000 after purchasing an additional 72,754 shares during the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Navios Maritime Partners by 45,274.3% in the 1st quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 149,527 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $10,090,000 after purchasing an additional 149,858 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. acquired a new position in shares of Navios Maritime Partners in the 1st quarter valued at $1,889,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Navios Maritime Partners by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 18,381 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,288,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Navios Maritime Partners by 74.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,911 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $736,000 after buying an additional 4,644 shares during the period. 62.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Navios Maritime Partners

Navios Maritime Partners L.P. (NYSE:NMM) is a global owner and operator of commercial vessels. The company provides seaborne transportation services for dry bulk commodities, containerized goods and liquid cargoes through a diversified fleet that includes dry bulk carriers, containerships and tanker vessels.

Its vessels transport commodities such as iron ore, grain, coal and other dry bulk materials, as well as petroleum products, chemicals and other liquid cargoes. Navios Maritime Partners serves international trade routes and works with charterers and customers across major shipping markets worldwide.

Navios Maritime Partners was established in 2007 and is part of the broader Navios group of maritime companies.