Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research 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 issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $21.50.

Several brokerages recently commented on NVGS. Pareto Securities initiated coverage on shares of Navigator in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Navigator in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Navigator from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered Navigator from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Navigator in a research note on Monday, December 29th.

Institutional Trading of Navigator

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Navigator in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,677,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Navigator during the third quarter worth approximately $6,091,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Navigator during the second quarter worth $4,773,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Navigator by 143.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 263,369 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,727,000 after buying an additional 155,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Credit Agricole S A acquired a new stake in shares of Navigator in the 3rd quarter worth $2,054,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 18.95% of the company’s stock.

Navigator Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Navigator stock opened at $18.42 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.18. Navigator has a fifty-two week low of $10.55 and a fifty-two week high of $18.83. The company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.42.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The shipping company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36. Navigator had a return on equity of 6.83% and a net margin of 17.85%.The company had revenue of $153.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $133.84 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Navigator will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navigator Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th were issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 25th. This is a positive change from Navigator’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Navigator’s payout ratio is currently 18.54%.

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).