Short Interest in Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) Declines By 31.4%

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

Navigator Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE NVGS opened at $13.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.10 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $15.96 and its 200-day moving average is $15.86. Navigator has a one year low of $13.47 and a one year high of $18.18.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 12th. The shipping company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $144.03 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $120.87 million. Navigator had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 7.40%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Navigator will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navigator Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Navigator

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Navigator in the 3rd quarter valued at about $907,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Navigator in the third quarter valued at about $1,210,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Navigator by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 686,148 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $10,532,000 after acquiring an additional 136,160 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Navigator by 108.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 178,600 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,870,000 after acquiring an additional 92,999 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Navigator by 10.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 19,640 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 1,895 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 18.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Navigator in a research note on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Navigator currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $21.60.

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.