Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE:NMM) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume

Navios Maritime Partners L.P. (NYSE:NMM) saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 111,558 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 36% from the previous session’s volume of 174,416 shares.The stock last traded at $55.14 and had previously closed at $55.78.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on NMM shares. StockNews.com upgraded Navios Maritime Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Navios Maritime Partners from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday.

Navios Maritime Partners Stock Up 4.8 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 1.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.31.

Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE:NMM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The shipping company reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $342.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $312.39 million. Navios Maritime Partners had a return on equity of 13.86% and a net margin of 30.28%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.32 EPS. Analysts expect that Navios Maritime Partners L.P. will post 14.8 EPS for the current year.

Navios Maritime Partners Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Navios Maritime Partners by 748.2% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 55,109 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,812,000 after buying an additional 48,612 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in Navios Maritime Partners during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,064,000. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. acquired a new stake in Navios Maritime Partners during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,375,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its position in Navios Maritime Partners by 37.2% in the 2nd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 71,280 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,637,000 after purchasing an additional 19,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Navios Maritime Partners by 2,977.2% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 750,835 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $38,315,000 after purchasing an additional 726,435 shares in the last quarter. 62.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.