Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC Invests $879,000 in SFL Corporation Ltd. $SFL

Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new position in SFL Corporation Ltd. (NYSE:SFL) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 81,426 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $879,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sage Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in SFL during the 1st quarter valued at about $108,000. Maridea Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in SFL by 78.9% in the first quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC now owns 39,191 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 17,283 shares during the period. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC bought a new position in shares of SFL during the first quarter valued at approximately $178,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of SFL by 69.2% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 51,133 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $552,000 after purchasing an additional 20,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of SFL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $121,000. 28.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on SFL shares. Weiss Ratings raised SFL from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen raised SFL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on SFL from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. 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 Stock Performance

Shares of SFL stock opened at $10.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.06 and a beta of 0.44. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $11.42 and its 200 day moving average is $10.23. SFL Corporation Ltd. has a 1 year low of $6.73 and a 1 year high of $12.94. 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 (NYSE:SFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 12th. The shipping company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $174.48 million during 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 revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business 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 issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. 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 8.3%. SFL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 366.67%.

SFL 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.