Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Increases Stock Holdings in Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its holdings in shares of Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 467,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 41,000 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Navigator were worth $7,168,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Navigator during the 3rd quarter valued at $907,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Navigator by 24.8% during the fourth quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 686,148 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $10,532,000 after purchasing an additional 136,160 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in Navigator by 10.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 19,640 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $316,000 after buying an additional 1,895 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Navigator by 30.8% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 117,108 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,798,000 after buying an additional 27,584 shares during the period. Finally, Harvey Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Navigator during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,504,000. 18.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Navigator in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Navigator presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $21.60.

Navigator Price Performance

Shares of Navigator stock opened at $12.35 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Navigator Holdings Ltd. has a 52 week low of $10.55 and a 52 week high of $18.18. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.32. The company has a market capitalization of $857.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.93 and a beta of 1.07.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 12th. The shipping company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $144.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $120.87 million. Navigator had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 14.48%. As a group, analysts expect that Navigator Holdings Ltd. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navigator Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, March 24th were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 24th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. Navigator’s payout ratio is 16.67%.

Navigator Company Profile

Navigator Holdings Ltd. engages in owning and operating a fleet of liquefied gas carriers worldwide. It provides international and regional seaborne transportation services of petrochemical gases, liquefied petroleum gases, and ammonia for energy companies, industrial users, and commodity traders. The company also offers ship shore infrastructure and consultancy services.