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

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on NVGS. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Navigator from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered Navigator from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.33.

Navigator Price Performance

NYSE:NVGS opened at $21.52 on Tuesday. Navigator has a 12-month low of $13.90 and a 12-month high of $24.36. The firm has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s 50-day moving average is $22.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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

Navigator Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Navigator’s payout ratio is presently 17.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Navigator news, COO Michael Schroder sold 25,000 shares of Navigator stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 83.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Oeyvind Lindeman sold 6,259 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.70, for a total transaction of $135,820.30. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navigator

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Manhattan CO. LLC. boosted its position in Navigator by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 1,430,009 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $24,768,000 after purchasing an additional 311,259 shares during the period. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Navigator by 62.7% in the first quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,034,216 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $19,991,000 after purchasing an additional 398,615 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in Navigator by 1.1% in the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 697,119 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $10,798,000 after purchasing an additional 7,574 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Navigator by 19.6% during the first quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 661,790 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $12,792,000 after purchasing an additional 108,467 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Navigator by 16.4% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 542,756 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $7,224,000 after purchasing an additional 76,287 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 18.95% of the company’s stock.

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).