Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE:NMM) Insider Angeliki Frangou Acquires 1,138 Shares

Key Points

• Navios Maritime Partners insider Angeliki Frangou bought 1,138 shares on May 12 at an average price of $72.99, increasing her stake slightly to 4.72 million shares. She has also been making repeated purchases throughout late April and early May.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.06 per share from $0.05, which works out to $0.24 annually and a 0.3% yield. The dividend payout ratio remains low at 2.50%.
• NMM shares were up to $73.49 in midday trading, near their 52-week high of $77.90. The stock has also drawn positive analyst sentiment, including a consensus Buy rating and a $85 target price.

Navios Maritime Partners LP (NYSE:NMM - Get Free Report) insider Angeliki Frangou acquired 1,138 shares of Navios Maritime Partners stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $72.99 per share, with a total value of $83,062.62. Following the transaction, the insider owned 4,720,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at $344,547,032.31. The trade was a 0.02% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Angeliki Frangou also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, May 11th, Angeliki Frangou acquired 1,111 shares of Navios Maritime Partners stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of $73.85 per share, with a total value of $82,047.35.
• On Friday, May 8th, Angeliki Frangou acquired 1,164 shares of Navios Maritime Partners stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of $74.62 per share, with a total value of $86,857.68.
• On Thursday, May 7th, Angeliki Frangou acquired 1,135 shares of Navios Maritime Partners stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of $72.49 per share, with a total value of $82,276.15.
• On Wednesday, May 6th, Angeliki Frangou acquired 1,086 shares of Navios Maritime Partners stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of $74.77 per share, with a total value of $81,200.22.
• On Tuesday, May 5th, Angeliki Frangou purchased 1,171 shares of Navios Maritime Partners stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $74.55 per share, with a total value of $87,298.05.
• On Monday, May 4th, Angeliki Frangou purchased 1,169 shares of Navios Maritime Partners stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $71.74 per share, with a total value of $83,864.06.
• On Friday, May 1st, Angeliki Frangou purchased 1,155 shares of Navios Maritime Partners stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $71.08 per share, with a total value of $82,097.40.
• On Thursday, April 30th, Angeliki Frangou purchased 1,176 shares of Navios Maritime Partners stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $72.03 per share, with a total value of $84,707.28.
• On Wednesday, April 29th, Angeliki Frangou purchased 1,159 shares of Navios Maritime Partners stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $71.72 per share, with a total value of $83,123.48.
• On Tuesday, April 28th, Angeliki Frangou purchased 1,145 shares of Navios Maritime Partners stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $72.08 per share, with a total value of $82,531.60.

Navios Maritime Partners Stock Performance

NYSE:NMM traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $73.49. 162,309 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 130,393. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $68.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.02. Navios Maritime Partners LP has a one year low of $36.62 and a one year high of $77.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.65 and a beta of 1.06.

Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE:NMM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The shipping company reported $3.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.99. The firm had revenue of $365.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.00 million. Navios Maritime Partners had a return on equity of 9.17% and a net margin of 21.23%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.61 earnings per share.

Navios Maritime Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be paid a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. This is a positive change from Navios Maritime Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. Navios Maritime Partners's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Navios Maritime Partners

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ion Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Navios Maritime Partners by 2.2% in the second quarter. Ion Asset Management Ltd. now owns 817,963 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $30,821,000 after buying an additional 17,285 shares in the last quarter. ION Fund Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Navios Maritime Partners during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $24,432,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in Navios Maritime Partners by 1.3% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 158,749 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $7,152,000 after purchasing an additional 2,045 shares during the period. ING Groep NV raised its position in Navios Maritime Partners by 51.7% during the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 146,500 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $7,681,000 after purchasing an additional 49,900 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Navios Maritime Partners by 28.8% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 117,950 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $5,314,000 after purchasing an additional 26,340 shares during the period. 62.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Navios Maritime Partners from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Navios Maritime Partners in a research note on Friday, April 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Navios Maritime Partners from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Navios Maritime Partners has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.00.

About Navios Maritime Partners

Navios Maritime Partners L.P. NYSE: NMM is a dry bulk shipping company that owns and operates a fleet of Capesize, Panamax and Supramax vessels. The partnership charters its vessels under medium- and long-term contracts to a diverse group of charterers, providing seaborne transportation for major bulk cargoes such as iron ore, coal, grain and fertilizers. Through this asset-light model, Navios Maritime Partners seeks to generate stable cash flows while retaining flexibility to capitalize on market opportunities.

Formed in November 2007 and sponsored by Navios Maritime Holdings Inc, the partnership leverages the operating platform and commercial management capabilities of the Navios group.

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