Navios Buoyed by JPMorgan Duble Upgrade

Shares of Navios Maritime Midstream Partners jumped more than 15% early Friday morning as JPMorgan upgraded the crude oil tanker operator to "overweight" from "underweight"

Stock currently up 13.6 pct at $4.34; top percentage gainer on the NYSE

In a Q1 2018 Oil Tankers Earnings preview, Analyst Noah Parquette is more constructive on a 2019 tanker recovery as scrapping boosts supply side and IMO regulations increase demand

Regarding NAP upgrade, Parquette cites valuation following distribution cut, believes new distribution level to be sustainable; though trims PT by $1 to $6

On flip side, downgrades sibling co Navios Maritime Acquisition to "underweight" from "neutral"

On Mar 26, NAP announced board announced fleet renewal and reset of annual distribution policy to $0.50/unit ; stock plummeted 38 pct

On Apr 25, NAP expected to report Q1 adj EPS of 18 cents; co has missed or met analyst estimates in all 8 previous qtrs, per Thomson Reuters data

Despite today's gain, stock has lost more than half its value YTD 

Reporting by Stephen Culp