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

Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 6th,NASDAQ Dividends reports. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th.

Navigator has a dividend payout ratio of 10.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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 on Thursday, hitting $15.68. The company had a trading volume of 397,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 200,482. Navigator has a 52 week low of $13.72 and a 52 week high of $18.18. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.79 and a beta of 1.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $16.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.32.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on NVGS shares. Citigroup assumed coverage on Navigator in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. DNB Markets started coverage on shares of Navigator in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Navigator from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Alliance Global Partners started coverage on shares of Navigator in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Clarkson Capital upgraded Navigator from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.60.

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.