Navigator Holdings Ltd. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.05 (NYSE:NVGS)

Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 6th,NASDAQ Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be paid a dividend of 0.05 per share by the shipping company on Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th.

Navigator has a payout ratio of 10.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Navigator to earn $1.87 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 10.7%.

Navigator Price Performance

NYSE:NVGS traded down $0.31 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $15.68. 397,832 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 200,482. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of 13.88 and a beta of 1.50. Navigator has a twelve month low of $13.72 and a twelve month high of $18.18. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $16.00 and its 200-day moving average is $16.31.

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The shipping company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. Navigator had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 7.35%. The firm had revenue of $129.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.92 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Navigator will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on NVGS. Clarkson Capital upgraded Navigator from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. DNB Markets started coverage on shares of Navigator in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Navigator in a research note on Thursday. Alliance Global Partners assumed coverage on shares of Navigator in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Navigator in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.60.

About Navigator

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.