Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) Director Sells 5,000 Shares

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

Navigator Price Performance

Navigator stock traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $20.93. The company had a trading volume of 33,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 417,864. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.70. Navigator Holdings Ltd. has a 1 year low of $14.08 and a 1 year high of $24.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The company has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.46.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The shipping company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.32. Navigator had a return on equity of 10.45% and a net margin of 22.80%.The business had revenue of $167.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $139.46 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Navigator Holdings Ltd. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Navigator Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Navigator’s dividend payout ratio is 12.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Institutional Trading of Navigator

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew 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 acquiring an additional 625 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. lifted 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 worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted 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 worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in shares of Navigator by 3.7% during the third quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 37,394 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $579,000 after purchasing an additional 1,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Navigator by 8.0% during the third quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 18,194 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,353 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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).