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

Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 23,540 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $361,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NVGS. First Sabrepoint Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Navigator during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,994,000. Harvey Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Navigator during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,504,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Navigator by 24.8% during the 4th quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 686,148 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $10,532,000 after buying an additional 136,160 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its stake in shares of Navigator by 11.4% during the 4th 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. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Navigator by 108.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 178,600 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,870,000 after buying an additional 92,999 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 18.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Navigator Stock Performance

Shares of NVGS opened at $13.92 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $15.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.78. Navigator Holdings Ltd. has a 12-month low of $13.47 and a 12-month high of $18.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 12.32 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.

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

Navigator Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, March 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 24th. Navigator’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.67%.

Navigator Company Profile

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.