Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) has earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the five brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $51.00.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Global Ship Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Global Ship Lease from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a report on Friday, July 17th. B. Riley Financial boosted their price target on Global Ship Lease from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Global Ship Lease from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th.

Global Ship Lease Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE GSL opened at $45.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.53. Global Ship Lease has a 52 week low of $27.28 and a 52 week high of $46.57.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The shipping company reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.42 by $0.06. Global Ship Lease had a net margin of 49.10% and a return on equity of 19.92%. The business had revenue of $198.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.85 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.67 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Global Ship Lease will post 9.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Ship Lease Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.625 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 21st. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.5%. Global Ship Lease’s dividend payout ratio is 24.04%.

Insider Activity

In other Global Ship Lease news, CFO Anastasios Psaropoulos sold 48,330 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.02, for a total value of $2,175,816.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 68,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,092,783.96. This trade represents a 41.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Thomas Lister sold 30,000 shares of Global Ship Lease stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.26, for a total value of $1,327,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,238.84. This trade represents a 65.31% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 80,000 shares of company stock worth $3,578,817 over the last quarter.

Institutional Trading of Global Ship Lease

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Global Ship Lease by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 21,269 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $792,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP grew its position in Global Ship Lease by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 15,409 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $579,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 49.4% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,579 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, SHP Wealth Management bought a new stake in Global Ship Lease during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.08% of the company’s stock.

About Global Ship Lease

Global Ship Lease, Inc (NYSE: GSL) is a container vessel owner and charterer that provides seaborne transportation capacity to container shipping companies. The company owns and manages a fleet of containerships used to transport manufactured goods, consumer products, raw materials and other cargo in containers.

Global Ship Lease generally charters its vessels to liner companies under fixed-rate time charter agreements. Its customers operate the ships on international trade routes, while Global Ship Lease focuses on vessel ownership, commercial employment, technical management and maintaining the fleet.