Navigator Holdings Ltd. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.05 (NYSE:NVGS)

Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 13th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 24th will be given a dividend of 0.05 per share by the shipping company on Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 24th.

Navigator has a payout ratio of 10.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Navigator to earn $1.67 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 12.0%.

Navigator Trading Down 1.3 %

NVGS traded down $0.19 during trading on Thursday, hitting $13.69. 359,434 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 215,847. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $1.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.90. Navigator has a 1 year low of $13.55 and a 1 year high of $18.18.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.