Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Navigator in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Zacks Research lowered Navigator from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Navigator in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Navigator in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Pareto Securities started coverage on Navigator in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Navigator has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.50.

Navigator Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NVGS opened at $18.14 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $17.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.40. Navigator has a 12-month low of $10.55 and a 12-month high of $18.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.42.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The shipping company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36. The business had revenue of $153.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $133.84 million. Navigator had a net margin of 17.85% and a return on equity of 6.83%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Navigator will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Navigator Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 25th were paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 25th. This is an increase 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 presently 18.54%.

Institutional Trading of Navigator

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Navigator during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $383,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Navigator by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 50,885 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $677,000 after buying an additional 7,777 shares during the last quarter. Estabrook Capital Management raised its stake in Navigator by 13.7% during the 2nd quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 149,658 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,118,000 after acquiring an additional 18,090 shares in the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Navigator by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 421,886 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $5,970,000 after acquiring an additional 47,391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC lifted its position in Navigator by 25.2% in the second quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 92,223 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,305,000 after acquiring an additional 18,574 shares during the last quarter. 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).