Navigator (NYSE:NVGS – Get Free Report) and Shell (NYSE:SHEL – Get Free Report) are both energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk and institutional ownership.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Navigator and Shell, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Navigator | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2.80 |
| Shell | 0 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 2.61 |
Navigator presently has a consensus target price of $23.00, suggesting a potential upside of 7.96%. Shell has a consensus target price of $106.63, suggesting a potential upside of 0.11%. Given Navigator’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Navigator is more favorable than Shell.
Dividends
Navigator pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Shell pays an annual dividend of $3.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Navigator pays out 12.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Shell pays out 34.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Navigator has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
19.0% of Navigator shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 28.6% of Shell shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Navigator shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Shell shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Profitability
This table compares Navigator and Shell’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Navigator | 22.80% | 10.45% | 5.73% |
| Shell | 8.55% | 14.34% | 6.74% |
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Navigator and Shell”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Navigator | $586.96 million | 2.23 | $100.12 million | $2.17 | 9.82 |
| Shell | $273.73 billion | 1.11 | $17.84 billion | $9.06 | 11.76 |
Shell has higher revenue and earnings than Navigator. Navigator is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Shell, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Volatility & Risk
Navigator has a beta of 0.48, meaning that its share price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Shell has a beta of 0.1, meaning that its share price is 90% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Shell beats Navigator on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.
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. It operates a fleet of 56 semi- or fully-refrigerated liquefied gas carriers. The company was formerly known as Isle of Man public limited company and changed its name to Navigator Holdings Ltd. in 2006. Navigator Holdings Ltd. was incorporated in 1997 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.
About Shell
Shell plc operates as an energy and petrochemical company Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, the United States, and Rest of the Americas. The company operates through Integrated Gas, Upstream, Marketing, Chemicals and Products, and Renewables and Energy Solutions segments. It explores for and extracts crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids; markets and transports oil and gas; produces gas-to-liquids fuels and other products; and operates upstream and midstream infrastructure to deliver gas to market. The company also markets and trades natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), crude oil, electricity, carbon-emission rights; and markets and sells LNG as a fuel for heavy-duty vehicles. In addition, it trades in and refines crude oil and other feed stocks, such as low-carbon fuels, lubricants, bitumen, sulphur, gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel, and marine fuel; produces and sells petrochemicals for industrial use; and manages oil sands activities. Further, the company produces base chemicals comprising ethylene, propylene, and aromatics, as well as intermediate chemicals, such as styrene monomer, propylene oxide, solvents, detergent alcohols, ethylene oxide, and ethylene glycol. Additionally, it generates electricity through wind and solar resources; produces and sells hydrogen; and provides electric vehicle charging services. The company was formerly known as Royal Dutch Shell plc and changed its name to Shell plc in January 2022. Shell plc was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.
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