Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE:NMM) Raised to "Strong-Buy" at Jefferies Financial Group

Key Points

• Jefferies upgraded Navios Maritime Partners to a "Strong-Buy" and other firms (Wall Street Zen, Weiss Ratings) have recently raised their ratings, leaving the stock with an average analyst rating of "Strong Buy" and an average price target of $85.00.
• The company reported a quarterly beat, with EPS of $3.40 versus $2.41 expected and revenue of $365.6M versus $316.0M, and the stock trades around $70.38 with a market cap of $2.02B and a PE of 7.32.
• Insiders and institutions showed buying interest—Angeliki Frangou purchased 1,289 shares (~$64.87/share) and insiders bought 22,942 shares (~$1.59M) in the quarter, while institutional investors hold about 62.74% of the shares.

Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE:NMM - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

NMM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Navios Maritime Partners from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Weiss Ratings raised Navios Maritime Partners from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Navios Maritime Partners presently has an average rating of "Strong Buy" and an average price target of $85.00.

Navios Maritime Partners Stock Performance

NMM opened at $70.38 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average is $67.64 and its 200-day moving average is $57.84. The stock has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of 7.32 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Navios Maritime Partners has a twelve month low of $33.20 and a twelve month high of $74.21.

Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE:NMM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The shipping company reported $3.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.99. The company had revenue of $365.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.61 earnings per share.

Insider Transactions at Navios Maritime Partners

In other Navios Maritime Partners news, insider Angeliki Frangou purchased 1,289 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $64.87 per share, for a total transaction of $83,617.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 4,678,741 shares in the company, valued at $303,509,928.67. This represents a 0.03% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have purchased a total of 22,942 shares of company stock valued at $1,592,375 in the last quarter.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ion Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in 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 during the last quarter. ION Fund Management Ltd acquired a new position in Navios Maritime Partners in the fourth quarter worth approximately $24,432,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in Navios Maritime Partners by 1.3% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 158,749 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $7,152,000 after buying an additional 2,045 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV grew its position in Navios Maritime Partners by 51.7% in the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 146,500 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $7,681,000 after buying an additional 49,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Navios Maritime Partners by 28.8% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 117,950 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $5,314,000 after buying an additional 26,340 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.74% of the company's stock.

Navios Maritime Partners Company Profile

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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