Encompass Capital Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS)

Encompass Capital Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,339,151 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 10,412 shares during the quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC owned 1.83% of Navigator worth $20,556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NVGS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought a new position in Navigator during the third quarter worth $907,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Navigator by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 12,638 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $194,000 after buying an additional 1,976 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Navigator by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 686,148 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $10,532,000 after buying an additional 136,160 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Navigator by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 19,640 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 1,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Navigator by 30.8% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 117,108 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,798,000 after acquiring an additional 27,584 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 18.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Navigator in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $21.60.

Navigator Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of Navigator stock opened at $13.44 on Friday. Navigator Holdings Ltd. has a 1-year low of $10.55 and a 1-year high of $18.18. The company has a market capitalization of $932.92 million, a P/E ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $13.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 12th. The shipping company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $144.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $120.87 million. Navigator had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 7.40%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Navigator Holdings Ltd. will post 1.25 EPS for the current year.

Navigator Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 24th were issued a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 24th. Navigator’s payout ratio is 16.67%.

Navigator 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.