Peter George Charles An Stokes Sells 5,000 Shares of Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) Stock

Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) Director Peter George Charles An Stokes sold 5,000 shares of Navigator stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.28, for a total value of $101,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $140,134.80. This represents a 41.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Navigator Stock Up 1.3%

NVGS opened at $20.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.71. The company has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.67, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.46. Navigator Holdings Ltd. has a one year low of $14.08 and a one year high of $24.36. The business’s fifty day moving average is $21.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.70.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The shipping company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.32. Navigator had a net margin of 22.80% and a return on equity of 10.45%. The business had revenue of $167.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $139.46 million. Analysts anticipate that Navigator Holdings Ltd. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navigator Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. Navigator’s dividend payout ratio is 12.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navigator

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVGS. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Navigator by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,680 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Navigator by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 4,696 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Navigator by 37.4% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,627 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Navigator by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 37,394 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $579,000 after acquiring an additional 1,334 shares during the period. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Navigator by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 18,194 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,353 shares during the period. 18.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on NVGS shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Navigator from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Navigator from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Zacks Research cut Navigator from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Navigator from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Navigator presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.33.

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).