Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) Insider Sells $135,820.30 in Stock

Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) insider Oeyvind Lindeman sold 6,259 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.70, for a total value of $135,820.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Navigator Stock Performance

NYSE NVGS opened at $21.74 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business’s 50 day moving average is $21.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.50. Navigator Holdings Ltd. has a 12-month low of $13.66 and a 12-month high of $24.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.44.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The shipping company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $140.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $139.35 million. Navigator had a return on equity of 7.01% and a net margin of 18.84%. Research analysts expect that Navigator Holdings Ltd. will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.

Navigator Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be paid a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Navigator’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVGS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research lowered Navigator from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings lowered Navigator from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Citigroup increased their price target on Navigator from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Navigator from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NVGS. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Navigator in the 3rd quarter worth $597,000. Teton Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Navigator in the 3rd quarter worth $1,320,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Navigator by 165.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 210,797 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,265,000 after buying an additional 131,359 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its position in shares of Navigator by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 455,500 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $7,889,000 after buying an additional 40,500 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Navigator in the 4th quarter worth $3,108,000. 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).