Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) COO Sells 25,000 Shares

Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) COO Michael Schroder sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $118,150. The trade was a 83.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Navigator Price Performance

Shares of NVGS traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $22.88. 187,835 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 395,929. The company has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $20.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.14. Navigator Holdings Ltd. has a 52-week low of $13.50 and a 52-week high of $24.36.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The shipping company reported $0.50 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $139.35 million. Navigator had a return on equity of 7.01% and a net margin of 18.84%. On average, analysts anticipate that Navigator Holdings Ltd. will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Navigator Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Navigator’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on NVGS. Wall Street Zen cut Navigator from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 15th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Navigator from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Navigator from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Navigator from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navigator

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its stake in Navigator by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 1,430,009 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $24,768,000 after acquiring an additional 311,259 shares during the last quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Navigator by 62.7% during the 1st quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,034,216 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $19,991,000 after acquiring an additional 398,615 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Navigator by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 697,119 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $10,798,000 after acquiring an additional 7,574 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Navigator by 19.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Navigator by 16.4% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 542,756 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $7,224,000 after purchasing an additional 76,287 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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).