Magnetar Financial LLC Buys Shares of 23,540 Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS)

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 23,540 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $361,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in Navigator by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,001,114 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $15,367,000 after buying an additional 102,711 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Navigator by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 641,745 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $9,851,000 after purchasing an additional 46,807 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Navigator by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 26,913 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,540 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Navigator by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 87,249 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,339,000 after purchasing an additional 9,839 shares during the period. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its holdings in shares of Navigator by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 52,267 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $802,000 after purchasing an additional 9,160 shares during the period. 18.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Navigator in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Navigator currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $21.60.

Navigator Price Performance

NYSE:NVGS opened at $13.92 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $15.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.78. The firm has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 1.39. Navigator Holdings Ltd. has a 52-week low of $13.47 and a 52-week high of $18.18. 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 released its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $144.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.87 million. Navigator had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 14.48%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Navigator Holdings Ltd. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navigator Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, March 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 24th. Navigator’s payout ratio is currently 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.