UPDATE: Stifel Nicolaus Initiates Navios Maritime at Hold on Fair Valuation

In a report published Thursday, Stifel Nicolaus analyst Benjamin Nolan initiated coverage on Navios Maritime NMM with a Hold rating.

In the report, Stifel Nicolaus noted, “We are initiating coverage of Navios Maritime Partners (NMM) with a Hold rating on the shares as we believe the units are fairly valued trading at a distribution yield of 11.9% due to the risk of a potential reduction in distributions beyond 2014. With many of the contracts on the partnership's vessels scheduled to re-price lower through 2014 and 2015, we expect cash flows to decline over the next several years. However, we believe the partnership does have the necessary cash and cash flow to sustain distribution at current levels for at least the next 18 months.”

Navios Maritime closed on Wednesday at $14.85.