Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $40.3333.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Global Ship Lease from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. B. Riley Financial lifted their price objective on Global Ship Lease from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Global Ship Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Global Ship Lease news, insider Georgios Giannopoulos sold 7,692 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.51, for a total transaction of $296,218.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in 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 worth $810,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Global Ship Lease by 77.2% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 989 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Global Ship Lease by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,827 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Global Ship Lease by 29.0% during the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 2,179 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in Global Ship Lease by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 83,650 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,568,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. 50.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Global Ship Lease Stock Down 2.6%

NYSE GSL opened at $40.23 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a PE ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.96. Global Ship Lease has a fifty-two week low of $23.95 and a fifty-two week high of $42.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.98. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The shipping company reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Global Ship Lease will post 9.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Ship Lease Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.625 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.2%. Global Ship Lease’s payout ratio is currently 21.95%.

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.