LSV Asset Management Takes $3.11 Million Position in Navigator Holdings Ltd. $NVGS

LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 179,457 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,108,000. LSV Asset Management owned about 0.26% of Navigator at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Navigator during the second quarter worth about $5,677,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Navigator during the third quarter worth about $6,091,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Navigator during the second quarter worth about $4,773,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 155,336 shares during the period. Finally, Credit Agricole S A purchased a new stake in shares of Navigator in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,054,000. 18.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVGS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Navigator from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Navigator from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Navigator from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Navigator from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Navigator has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.33.

Insider Activity at Navigator

In other news, COO Michael Schroder sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $118,150. The trade was a 83.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Navigator Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NVGS stock opened at $23.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $20.99 and a 200 day moving average of $19.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.45. Navigator Holdings Ltd. has a twelve month low of $13.66 and a twelve month high of $24.36.

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

Navigator Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 20th. Navigator’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.18%.

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).