JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Stake in Navigator Holdings Ltd. $NVGS

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) by 165.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 210,797 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 131,359 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.30% of Navigator worth $3,265,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NVGS. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Navigator during the third quarter worth approximately $65,000. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Navigator in the third quarter valued at approximately $351,000. Prelude Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Navigator by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Prelude Capital Management LLC now owns 47,637 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $738,000 after buying an additional 3,294 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Navigator by 2,794.4% during the 3rd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,055 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,984 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in shares of Navigator by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 37,394 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $579,000 after buying an additional 1,334 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 18.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVGS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Navigator in a report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Navigator from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 15th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Navigator from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Pareto Securities assumed coverage on shares of Navigator in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.50.

Navigator Stock Performance

Shares of Navigator stock opened at $19.89 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $19.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.76. The company has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.18. Navigator Holdings Ltd. has a one year low of $10.55 and a one year high of $21.36.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 11th. The shipping company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.07). Navigator had a net margin of 17.06% and a return on equity of 6.35%. The firm had revenue of $152.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $136.15 million. On average, research analysts predict that Navigator Holdings Ltd. will post 1.25 EPS for the current year.

Navigator Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 23rd. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Navigator’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.92%.

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).