Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Navigator in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Navigator from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Navigator from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Navigator currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.33.

Navigator Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Navigator stock opened at $23.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.45. 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 50-day simple moving average of $20.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.81. Navigator has a 12-month low of $13.50 and a 12-month high of $23.54.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The shipping company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $140.62 million during 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%. Research analysts expect that Navigator will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Navigator by 1,124.1% in the 4th 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 last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Navigator in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Navigator by 2,794.4% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Navigator in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Navigator in the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. 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).