Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE:NMM) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE:NMM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Navios Maritime Partners from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th.

Navios Maritime Partners Stock Performance

NYSE:NMM opened at $42.41 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. Navios Maritime Partners has a fifty-two week low of $27.47 and a fifty-two week high of $65.89. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.97. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $46.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.12.

Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE:NMM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The shipping company reported $3.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.80 by ($0.65). Navios Maritime Partners had a net margin of 30.48% and a return on equity of 13.66%. The firm had revenue of $340.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $326.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Navios Maritime Partners will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Navios Maritime Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. Navios Maritime Partners’s payout ratio is currently 1.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Navios Maritime Partners

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NMM. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Navios Maritime Partners in the third quarter worth about $511,000. Walleye Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Navios Maritime Partners by 4,002.4% in the 3rd quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 35,512 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,224,000 after acquiring an additional 36,422 shares in the last quarter. Corsair Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Navios Maritime Partners in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,000,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Navios Maritime Partners by 21.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,149 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. grew its stake in Navios Maritime Partners by 3.2% in the third quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 27,825 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the period. 62.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Navios Maritime Partners

Navios Maritime Partners L.P. owns and operates dry cargo vessels in Asia, Europe, North America, and Australia. The company offers seaborne transportation services for a range of liquid and dry cargo commodities, including crude oil, refined petroleum, chemicals, iron ore, coal, grain, fertilizer, and containers, as well as charters its vessels under short, medium, and longer-term charters.