Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.63

Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of 0.625 per share by the shipping company on Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 22nd.

Global Ship Lease has a dividend payout ratio of 27.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Global Ship Lease to earn $10.93 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.50 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.9%.

Global Ship Lease Price Performance

NYSE GSL opened at $41.80 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.04. The stock has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.48. Global Ship Lease has a 52-week low of $22.94 and a 52-week high of $42.70.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The shipping company reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.01. Global Ship Lease had a net margin of 54.33% and a return on equity of 22.35%. The firm had revenue of $190.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.39 million. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Global Ship Lease will post 9.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GSL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research note on Friday, April 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research upgraded Global Ship Lease from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Fearnley Fonds upgraded Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Global Ship Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.33.

Global Ship Lease Company Profile

Global Ship Lease (NYSE: GSL) is a Bermuda-based containership charter owner focused on acquiring, owning and leasing modern, fuel-efficient vessels to major liner operators. Founded in 2011 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange the same year, the company’s fleet primarily comprises post-Panamax containerships designed to serve the high-volume Asia–Europe and transpacific shipping lanes. By specializing in long-term charter agreements, Global Ship Lease aims to maintain stable revenue streams and minimize spot-market volatility.

The company’s business model centers on negotiating multi-year time charters with leading global shipping lines.