Navigator Holdings Ltd. $NVGS Shares Bought by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) by 165.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 210,797 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 131,359 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Navigator were worth $3,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of NVGS. Geode Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Navigator during the 2nd quarter worth $5,677,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Navigator in the third quarter valued at about $6,091,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Navigator in the second quarter valued at about $4,773,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Navigator by 143.8% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 263,369 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,727,000 after buying an additional 155,336 shares during the period. Finally, Credit Agricole S A purchased a new position in Navigator during the third quarter worth about $2,054,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 18.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NVGS shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Navigator from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Navigator in a report on Friday, March 27th. Pareto Securities initiated coverage on Navigator in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research cut Navigator from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Navigator has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.50.

Navigator Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:NVGS opened at $19.89 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of 13.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.45. Navigator Holdings Ltd. has a 1 year low of $10.55 and a 1 year high of $21.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $19.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.76.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 11th. The shipping company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $152.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $136.15 million. Navigator had a net margin of 17.06% and a return on equity of 6.35%. Analysts predict 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 Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 23rd were paid a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 23rd. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Navigator’s payout ratio is 18.92%.

Navigator Profile

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).