U S Global Investors Inc. Raises Stake in Global Ship Lease, Inc. $GSL

U S Global Investors Inc. grew its stake in Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) by 220.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,690 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,856 shares during the quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. owned about 0.05% of Global Ship Lease worth $696,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in shares of Global Ship Lease by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 23,127 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $810,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Global Ship Lease by 5.2% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,827 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its stake in Global Ship Lease by 0.7% during the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 83,650 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,568,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its stake in Global Ship Lease by 2.5% during the third quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 28,668 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $880,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Global Ship Lease by 73.9% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,673 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 711 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.08% of the company’s stock.

Global Ship Lease Trading Up 1.8%

GSL traded up $0.69 on Friday, hitting $40.13. The company had a trading volume of 243,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 257,052. The firm has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.90. Global Ship Lease, Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.20 and a 1 year high of $42.70. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $39.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 22nd. The shipping company reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.16. Global Ship Lease had a net margin of 50.01% and a return on equity of 21.11%. The company had revenue of $198.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.87 million. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Global Ship Lease, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Ship Lease Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a $0.625 dividend. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. Global Ship Lease’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GSL. Zacks Research cut shares of Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Global Ship Lease in a research report on Friday, April 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.50.

About Global Ship Lease

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.