Michael Schroder Sells 25,000 Shares of Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) Stock

Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) COO Michael Schroder sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.63, for a total value of $590,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $118,150. This represents a 83.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Navigator Stock Down 1.3%

NVGS stock opened at $23.10 on Friday. Navigator Holdings Ltd. has a 1-year low of $13.50 and a 1-year high of $24.36. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $20.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.45.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The shipping company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.16. Navigator had a return on equity of 7.01% and a net margin of 18.84%.The firm had revenue of $140.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $139.35 million. Equities analysts forecast that Navigator Holdings Ltd. will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navigator Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be issued a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Navigator’s payout ratio is presently 17.18%.

Institutional Trading of Navigator

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NVGS. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its holdings in Navigator by 1,124.1% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,677 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,540 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System bought a new stake in Navigator during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Navigator by 2,794.4% during the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,055 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Navigator during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new stake in Navigator during the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors own 18.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on NVGS shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Navigator from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered Navigator from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Navigator from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Navigator from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Navigator presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.33.

Navigator Company 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).