Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) Director Peter George Charles An Stokes Sells 5,000 Shares of Stock

Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) Director Peter George Charles An Stokes sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.28, for a total transaction of $101,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $140,134.80. The trade was a 41.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Navigator Price Performance

NVGS stock opened at $20.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.71. Navigator Holdings Ltd. has a 52-week low of $14.08 and a 52-week high of $24.36. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.70.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The shipping company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $167.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $139.46 million. Navigator had a return on equity of 10.45% and a net margin of 22.80%. Research analysts expect that Navigator Holdings Ltd. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navigator Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Navigator’s dividend payout ratio is 12.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Navigator from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Navigator from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Zacks Research cut shares of Navigator from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Navigator from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Navigator

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NVGS. Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Navigator during the second quarter valued at about $5,677,000. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Navigator by 62.7% in the first quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,034,216 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $19,991,000 after acquiring an additional 398,615 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Navigator in the third quarter worth about $6,091,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Navigator in the second quarter valued at about $4,773,000. Finally, First Manhattan CO. LLC. boosted its stake in Navigator by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 1,430,009 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $24,768,000 after acquiring an additional 311,259 shares during the last quarter. 18.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Navigator

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).