Analysts Set Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) Target Price at $23.33

Shares of Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $23.3333.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Navigator from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 15th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Navigator from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Citigroup lifted their price target 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, Zacks Research cut shares of Navigator from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th.

Navigator Stock Performance

NYSE:NVGS opened at $21.73 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.44. Navigator has a fifty-two week low of $13.66 and a fifty-two week high of $24.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $21.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.51.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The shipping company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $140.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $139.35 million. Navigator had a net margin of 18.84% and a return on equity of 7.01%. Analysts expect that Navigator will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.

Navigator Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. Navigator’s payout ratio is 17.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Navigator news, COO Michael Schroder sold 25,000 shares of Navigator stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $118,150. The trade was a 83.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Oeyvind Lindeman sold 6,259 shares of Navigator stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.70, for a total transaction of $135,820.30. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Navigator

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NVGS. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its stake in shares of Navigator by 1,124.1% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,677 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,540 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Navigator during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Navigator by 2,794.4% during the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,055 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Navigator during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Navigator during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 18.95% of the company’s stock.

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).