Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Buys 14,667 Shares of Navios Maritime Partners L.P. (NYSE:NMM)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Navios Maritime Partners L.P. (NYSE:NMM) by 41.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,403 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,667 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC owned 0.17% of Navios Maritime Partners worth $2,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NMM. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Navios Maritime Partners by 56.9% during the 4th quarter. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC now owns 10,040 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 3,640 shares in the last quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Navios Maritime Partners by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. now owns 32,694 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,415,000 after purchasing an additional 2,798 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV raised its stake in shares of Navios Maritime Partners by 446.2% during the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 71,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,074,000 after purchasing an additional 58,000 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Navios Maritime Partners during the 4th quarter worth approximately $656,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Navios Maritime Partners during the 4th quarter worth approximately $219,000. Institutional investors own 62.74% of the company’s stock.

Navios Maritime Partners Stock Up 3.0%

NMM opened at $39.76 on Wednesday. Navios Maritime Partners L.P. has a 1-year low of $28.37 and a 1-year high of $65.89. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.31.

Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE:NMM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The shipping company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.04). Navios Maritime Partners had a net margin of 27.53% and a return on equity of 11.64%. The business had revenue of $274.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $254.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Navios Maritime Partners L.P. will post 12.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Navios Maritime Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Navios Maritime Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 1.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Navios Maritime Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th.

Navios Maritime Partners Profile

Navios Maritime Partners L.P. owns and operates dry cargo vessels in Asia, Europe, North America, and Australia. The company offers seaborne transportation services for a range of liquid and dry cargo commodities, including crude oil, refined petroleum, chemicals, iron ore, coal, grain, fertilizer, and containers, as well as charters its vessels under short, medium, and longer-term charters.