Aristides Capital LLC Boosts Stock Position in Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS)

Aristides Capital LLC increased its position in Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,034 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,428 shares during the quarter. Aristides Capital LLC’s holdings in Navigator were worth $231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Navigator in the 4th quarter worth approximately $856,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Navigator during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Navigator by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 12,638 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $194,000 after purchasing an additional 1,976 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Navigator by 30.8% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 117,108 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 27,584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in shares of Navigator by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 29,018 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $445,000 after buying an additional 3,303 shares in the last quarter. 18.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Navigator in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.60.

Navigator Price Performance

NVGS opened at $10.90 on Monday. 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 Holdings Ltd. has a 1 year low of $10.45 and a 1 year high of $18.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.60. The firm has a market cap of $756.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.64 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Navigator Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 24th were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 24th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. Navigator’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.