Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 244,621 Shares of SFL Corporation Ltd. $SFL

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of SFL Corporation Ltd. (NYSE:SFL) by 2.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,805,291 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 244,621 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.06% of SFL worth $95,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SFL. Fearnley Asset Management AS bought a new stake in SFL during the 4th quarter worth about $2,596,000. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in shares of SFL in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,280,000. Credit Agricole S A acquired a new stake in shares of SFL during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,064,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of SFL by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,806,744 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $23,380,000 after buying an additional 188,441 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of SFL by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,259,801 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $9,839,000 after buying an additional 174,072 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.59% of the company’s stock.

SFL Stock Performance

Shares of SFL stock opened at $12.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a PE ratio of 50.61 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $11.23 and a 200-day moving average of $10.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.32. SFL Corporation Ltd. has a one year low of $6.73 and a one year high of $12.94.

SFL (NYSE:SFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 12th. The shipping company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $174.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.77 million. SFL had a net margin of 4.37% and a return on equity of 0.26%. SFL’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.24) EPS.

SFL Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a positive change from SFL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. SFL’s payout ratio is 366.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFL has been the topic of several analyst reports. BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of SFL from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SFL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised SFL from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.00.

SFL Company Profile

Ship Finance International Limited (NYSE: SFL) is an independent owner of modern, large-size ocean-going vessels that provides finance and leasing services to the global shipping industry. The company’s fleet encompasses a diversified mix of crude oil tankers, product and chemical tankers, liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, dry bulk carriers, container vessels and floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) units. By structuring long-term charter agreements and bareboat leases with major oil companies, commodity traders and offshore operators, Ship Finance International seeks to deliver stable cash flows and risk-adjusted returns for its shareholders.

In its core business, Ship Finance International acquires or finances vessels through forward sales agreements and then charters them out under fixed-rate contracts, typically ranging from five to 20 years in duration.