Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) Short Interest Update

Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) saw a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 320,100 shares, a drop of 21.9% from the March 15th total of 410,100 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 187,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Navigator in a report on Thursday, March 14th.

Institutional Trading of Navigator

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Navigator by 18.6% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 24,136 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 3,782 shares during the period. Estabrook Capital Management grew its stake in Navigator by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 60,500 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $739,000 after buying an additional 6,000 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its holdings in Navigator by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 586,001 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $7,155,000 after acquiring an additional 74,000 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in Navigator by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 125,053 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,527,000 after acquiring an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Navigator by 1.1% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 253,956 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,101,000 after acquiring an additional 2,813 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 18.95% of the company’s stock.

Navigator Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:NVGS traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $15.07. The stock had a trading volume of 155,119 shares, compared to its average volume of 188,229. The company has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.58 and a beta of 1.46. Navigator has a 12 month low of $12.32 and a 12 month high of $16.48. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 13th. The shipping company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $123.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $114.37 million. Navigator had a net margin of 14.94% and a return on equity of 6.96%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Navigator will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navigator Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 3rd. Navigator’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.02%.

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.