Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) Receives $21.60 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.60.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on NVGS shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Navigator from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Navigator in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th.

Navigator Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE NVGS opened at $14.73 on Friday. Navigator has a one year low of $10.55 and a one year high of $18.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $13.77 and its 200-day moving average is $14.56.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The shipping company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $151.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $128.26 million. Navigator had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 15.42%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Navigator will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navigator Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 29th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 29th. Navigator’s dividend payout ratio is 15.63%.

Institutional Trading of Navigator

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NVGS. First Manhattan CO. LLC. raised its stake in shares of Navigator by 25.1% during the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 1,034,596 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $15,881,000 after acquiring an additional 207,851 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in Navigator by 1.0% in the first quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,010,684 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $13,452,000 after purchasing an additional 9,570 shares during the period. First Sabrepoint Capital Management LP raised its position in Navigator by 266.4% during the 4th quarter. First Sabrepoint Capital Management LP now owns 682,516 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $10,477,000 after purchasing an additional 496,220 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in Navigator by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 641,745 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $9,851,000 after purchasing an additional 46,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Navigator by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 542,756 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $7,224,000 after buying an additional 76,287 shares during the period. 18.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Navigator

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.