Encompass Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 398,615 Shares of Navigator Holdings Ltd. $NVGS

Key Points

• Encompass Capital Advisors increased its Navigator Holdings stake by 62.7%, purchasing 398,615 shares to reach 1.03 million shares, worth approximately $20 million. Institutional investors collectively own 18.95% of the company.
• Navigator exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.50 EPS versus the $0.34 estimate and revenue of $140.62 million. Analysts project full-year EPS of $2.12.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus “Buy” rating and a $23.33 price target; Citigroup raised its target to $27. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.07, equivalent to a 1.3% yield.

Encompass Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS - Free Report) by 62.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,034,216 shares of the shipping company's stock after buying an additional 398,615 shares during the quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC owned about 1.68% of Navigator worth $19,991,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Manhattan CO. LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Navigator by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 1,430,009 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $24,768,000 after acquiring an additional 311,259 shares in the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Navigator by 19.6% in the 1st quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 661,790 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $12,792,000 after purchasing an additional 108,467 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Navigator by 16.4% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 542,756 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $7,224,000 after purchasing an additional 76,287 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Navigator by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 507,779 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $8,795,000 after purchasing an additional 114,532 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in Navigator by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 461,641 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $7,996,000 after purchasing an additional 10,716 shares during the period. 18.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Navigator Trading Up 0.0%

Navigator stock opened at $21.72 on Tuesday. Navigator Holdings Ltd. has a 52 week low of $14.08 and a 52 week high of $24.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a PE ratio of 13.32, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.46. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $21.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.42.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The shipping company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $140.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $139.35 million. Navigator had a return on equity of 7.01% and a net margin of 18.84%. Equities research analysts forecast that Navigator Holdings Ltd. will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Navigator Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. Navigator's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on NVGS. Weiss Ratings downgraded Navigator from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Navigator from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Navigator from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $23.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Navigator

In other news, COO Michael Schroder sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.63, for a total value of $590,750.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $118,150. This trade represents a 83.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Oeyvind Lindeman sold 6,259 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.70, for a total transaction of $135,820.30. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information.

Navigator Company 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).

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