Insider Buying: Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE:NMM) Insider Acquires $84,171.14 in Stock

Navios Maritime Partners LP (NYSE:NMM) insider Angeliki Frangou bought 1,234 shares of Navios Maritime Partners stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $68.21 per share, with a total value of $84,171.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,687,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $319,737,649.08. This trade represents a 0.03% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Angeliki Frangou also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, April 2nd, Angeliki Frangou purchased 1,229 shares of Navios Maritime Partners stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $69.46 per share, for a total transaction of $85,366.34.
• On Monday, March 23rd, Angeliki Frangou acquired 1,289 shares of Navios Maritime Partners stock. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $64.87 per share, with a total value of $83,617.43.
• On Friday, March 20th, Angeliki Frangou bought 1,247 shares of Navios Maritime Partners stock. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $66.71 per share, with a total value of $83,187.37.
• On Thursday, March 19th, Angeliki Frangou bought 1,235 shares of Navios Maritime Partners stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of $67.00 per share, for a total transaction of $82,745.00.

Navios Maritime Partners Stock Up 0.2%

NMM stock opened at $69.58 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $64.75 and a 200-day moving average of $55.55. Navios Maritime Partners LP has a fifty-two week low of $28.37 and a fifty-two week high of $74.21. The company has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.24 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE:NMM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The shipping company reported $3.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.99. The business had revenue of $365.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.00 million. Navios Maritime Partners had a net margin of 21.23% and a return on equity of 9.17%. The company’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Navios Maritime Partners LP will post 12.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Navios Maritime Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Navios Maritime Partners’s payout ratio is currently 2.08%.

Institutional Trading of Navios Maritime Partners

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ion Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Navios Maritime Partners by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ion Asset Management Ltd. now owns 817,963 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $30,821,000 after acquiring an additional 17,285 shares during the period. ION Fund Management Ltd bought a new position in Navios Maritime Partners in the 4th quarter valued at $24,432,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of Navios Maritime Partners by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 158,749 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $7,152,000 after purchasing an additional 2,045 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV grew its position in shares of Navios Maritime Partners by 51.7% during the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 146,500 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $7,681,000 after purchasing an additional 49,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Navios Maritime Partners by 28.8% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 117,950 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $5,314,000 after purchasing an additional 26,340 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on NMM shares. Wall Street Zen raised Navios Maritime Partners from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Navios Maritime Partners from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Navios Maritime Partners has an average rating of “Buy”.

About Navios Maritime Partners

Navios Maritime Partners L.P. (NYSE: NMM) is a dry bulk shipping company that owns and operates a fleet of Capesize, Panamax and Supramax vessels. The partnership charters its vessels under medium- and long-term contracts to a diverse group of charterers, providing seaborne transportation for major bulk cargoes such as iron ore, coal, grain and fertilizers. Through this asset-light model, Navios Maritime Partners seeks to generate stable cash flows while retaining flexibility to capitalize on market opportunities.

Formed in November 2007 and sponsored by Navios Maritime Holdings Inc, the partnership leverages the operating platform and commercial management capabilities of the Navios group.