Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE:NMM) Price Target Increased to $80.00 by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE:NMM) had its target price boosted by Jefferies Financial Group from $65.00 to $80.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the shipping company’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Navios Maritime Partners from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st.

Navios Maritime Partners Stock Performance

Shares of NMM opened at $57.10 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $50.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 1.97. Navios Maritime Partners has a one year low of $21.18 and a one year high of $58.22.

Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE:NMM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The shipping company reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.22. Navios Maritime Partners had a net margin of 30.28% and a return on equity of 13.86%. The company had revenue of $342.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $312.39 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.32 EPS. Navios Maritime Partners’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Navios Maritime Partners will post 14.8 EPS for the current year.

Navios Maritime Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Navios Maritime Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 1.51%.

Institutional Trading of Navios Maritime Partners

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Navios Maritime Partners by 2,977.2% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 750,835 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $38,315,000 after acquiring an additional 726,435 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in Navios Maritime Partners by 1.7% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 131,707 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $6,721,000 after purchasing an additional 2,169 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Navios Maritime Partners by 870.2% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 126,709 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $6,463,000 after buying an additional 113,649 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its position in shares of Navios Maritime Partners by 37.2% during the 2nd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 71,280 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,637,000 after buying an additional 19,330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Navios Maritime Partners by 748.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 55,109 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,812,000 after acquiring an additional 48,612 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.