Wall Street Zen Upgrades Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) to “Buy”

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

NVGS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Citigroup upped 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. Zacks Research raised shares of Navigator from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Navigator from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Navigator presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $23.33.

Navigator Stock Performance

NVGS opened at $20.68 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.53, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s 50 day moving average is $21.24 and its 200 day moving average is $20.63. Navigator has a 12-month low of $14.08 and a 12-month high of $24.36.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The shipping company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $167.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $139.46 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Navigator will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Oeyvind Lindeman sold 6,259 shares of Navigator stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.70, for a total value of $135,820.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Schroder sold 25,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief operating officer owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $118,150. This trade represents a 83.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Navigator

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Navigator in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,677,000. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Navigator by 62.7% during the first quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,034,216 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $19,991,000 after purchasing an additional 398,615 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Navigator during the third quarter valued at $6,091,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Navigator during the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,773,000. Finally, First Manhattan CO. LLC. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $24,768,000 after buying an additional 311,259 shares in the last quarter. 18.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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).