Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE:NMM) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Navios Maritime Partners LP (NYSE:NMM)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $92.89 and last traded at $92.1890, with a volume of 23870 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $92.19.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NMM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Navios Maritime Partners from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Navios Maritime Partners from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Navios Maritime Partners has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.00.

Navios Maritime Partners Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $82.78 and a 200 day moving average of $74.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a PE ratio of 6.07 and a beta of 0.99.

Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE:NMM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 27th. The shipping company reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $410.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $360.83 million. Navios Maritime Partners had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 30.27%.The company’s revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.15 EPS.

Navios Maritime Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Navios Maritime Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 1.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Angeliki Frangou bought 1,062 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $79.16 per share, for a total transaction of $84,067.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,790,901 shares in the company, valued at $379,247,723.16. This trade represents a 0.02% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have purchased 37,201 shares of company stock valued at $2,797,561 over the last quarter.

Institutional Trading of Navios Maritime Partners

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NMM. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new position in Navios Maritime Partners in the first quarter worth $63,000. State of Wyoming raised its position in Navios Maritime Partners by 77.8% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 4,637 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 2,029 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Navios Maritime Partners during the first quarter worth about $622,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Navios Maritime Partners by 74.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,911 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 4,644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Navios Maritime Partners by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 18,381 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,288,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.74% of the company’s stock.

About Navios Maritime Partners

Navios Maritime Partners L.P. (NYSE: NMM) is an international owner and operator of commercial vessels. The company provides maritime transportation services through a diversified fleet that includes dry bulk carriers, containerships and tanker vessels.

Its dry bulk ships transport commodities such as iron ore, coal, grain and other bulk cargoes, while its containerships carry manufactured goods and other containerized freight. The tanker fleet transports crude oil, refined petroleum products and other liquid cargoes.