Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) Short Interest Down 31.4% in February

Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 98,000 shares, a drop of 31.4% from the February 13th total of 142,800 shares. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 192,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.5 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Navigator in a report on Wednesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Navigator has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.60.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Navigator

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its position in Navigator by 14.9% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 43,107 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $693,000 after purchasing an additional 5,592 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its position in Navigator by 0.7% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 898,403 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $14,437,000 after purchasing an additional 6,250 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. acquired a new position in Navigator during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,210,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Navigator during the third quarter valued at approximately $273,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in Navigator by 108.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 178,600 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,870,000 after purchasing an additional 92,999 shares in the last quarter. 18.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Navigator Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:NVGS opened at $13.68 on Friday. Navigator has a 12-month low of $13.47 and a 12-month high of $18.18. The stock has a market cap of $1.00 billion, a PE ratio of 12.10 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a 50 day moving average of $15.96 and a 200-day moving average of $15.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 12th. The shipping company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Navigator had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 14.48%. The company had revenue of $144.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $120.87 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Navigator will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Navigator Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 24th will be given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 24th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Navigator’s payout ratio is 16.67%.

About Navigator

Navigator Holdings Ltd. engages in owning and operating a fleet of liquefied gas carriers worldwide. It provides international and regional seaborne transportation services of petrochemical gases, liquefied petroleum gases, and ammonia for energy companies, industrial users, and commodity traders. The company also offers ship shore infrastructure and consultancy services.