SFL (NYSE:SFL) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

SFL Corporation Ltd. (NYSE:SFL)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $11.62 and last traded at $11.6250, with a volume of 65110 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $11.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. BTIG Research raised their price objective on SFL from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of SFL in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of SFL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.00.

SFL Stock Up 1.8%

The company has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -59.13 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $10.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.14.

SFL (NYSE:SFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The shipping company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter. SFL had a negative net margin of 3.61% and a negative return on equity of 0.30%. The firm had revenue of $175.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.36 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.15 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 23.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

SFL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 12th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 12th. SFL’s payout ratio is presently -400.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SFL

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SFL. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in SFL by 16.7% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,847,616 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $28,973,000 after purchasing an additional 550,011 shares during the period. Fearnley Asset Management AS acquired a new stake in shares of SFL in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,596,000. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in shares of SFL during the fourth quarter worth about $2,280,000. Credit Agricole S A acquired a new position in shares of SFL in the third quarter worth approximately $2,064,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in SFL by 7.2% in the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,806,744 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $23,380,000 after acquiring an additional 188,441 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.59% of the company’s stock.

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.