Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on NVGS. Wall Street Zen cut Navigator from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered Navigator from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Navigator from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $23.33.

Navigator Trading Down 3.9%

NYSE:NVGS opened at $21.52 on Tuesday. Navigator has a one year low of $13.90 and a one year high of $24.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.93.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Navigator

In related news, COO Michael Schroder sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.63, for a total transaction of $590,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $118,150. This represents a 83.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Oeyvind Lindeman sold 6,259 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.70, for a total value of $135,820.30. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Navigator

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NVGS. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its position in Navigator by 1,124.1% during the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,677 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,540 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Navigator in the second quarter worth $29,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Navigator by 2,794.4% in the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,055 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,984 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Navigator during the second quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Navigator in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. 18.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Navigator

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).