Short Interest in Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) Drops By 15.1%

Key Points

• Short interest in Navigator fell 15.1% in April to 856,481 shares, implying a short‑interest ratio of 2.7 days and about 1.3% of shares short.
• Shares trade around $21.85 near a 12‑month high ($21.89) with a market cap of roughly $1.43 billion and a P/E of 14.76.
• Navigator reported Q results with EPS $0.32 (miss by $0.07) but revenue beat, declared a quarterly dividend of $0.07 (annualized yield 1.3%), and carries a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with a $21.50 target.

Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 856,481 shares, a drop of 15.1% from the March 31st total of 1,008,570 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 314,296 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Navigator Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVGS traded up $0.05 on Friday, hitting $21.85. The stock had a trading volume of 383,043 shares, compared to its average volume of 377,956. Navigator has a twelve month low of $12.79 and a twelve month high of $21.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $20.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.37. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.45.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 11th. The shipping company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.07). Navigator had a net margin of 17.06% and a return on equity of 6.35%. The business had revenue of $152.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $136.15 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Navigator will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Navigator Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 23rd were issued a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 23rd. Navigator's payout ratio is currently 18.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hodges Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Navigator by 19.6% in the first quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 661,790 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $12,792,000 after buying an additional 108,467 shares during the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Navigator in the first quarter worth about $267,000. Strs Ohio increased its position in Navigator by 572.7% in the first quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 22,200 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 18,900 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in Navigator in the first quarter worth about $412,000. Finally, 1492 Capital Management LLC increased its position in Navigator by 4.2% in the first quarter. 1492 Capital Management LLC now owns 178,024 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $3,441,000 after purchasing an additional 7,150 shares during the period. 18.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NVGS shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Navigator in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Navigator from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Navigator from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Navigator has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $21.50.

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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