Reviewing Global Ship Lease (GSL) & Its Competitors

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) is one of 79 public companies in the “Marine Transportation” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Global Ship Lease to related businesses based on the strength of its profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Global Ship Lease and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Global Ship Lease	49.38%	19.40%	12.65%
Global Ship Lease Competitors	31.88%	14.46%	7.15%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Global Ship Lease and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Global Ship Lease	0	1	3	1	3.00
Global Ship Lease Competitors	447	1646	1704	96	2.37

Global Ship Lease currently has a consensus target price of $51.00, suggesting a potential upside of 17.45%. As a group, “Marine Transportation” companies have a potential upside of 23.93%. Given Global Ship Lease’s peers higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Global Ship Lease has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Global Ship Lease and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Global Ship Lease	$766.45 million	$416.45 million	4.11
Global Ship Lease Competitors	$3.76 billion	$351.16 million	12.58

Global Ship Lease’s peers have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Global Ship Lease. Global Ship Lease is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

50.1% of Global Ship Lease shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.8% of shares of all “Marine Transportation” companies are owned by institutional investors. 7.4% of Global Ship Lease shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 28.2% of shares of all “Marine Transportation” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Global Ship Lease has a beta of 1.03, suggesting that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Global Ship Lease’s peers have a beta of 1.14, suggesting that their average stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Global Ship Lease pays an annual dividend of $2.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.8%. Global Ship Lease pays out 23.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Marine Transportation” companies pay a dividend yield of 4.7% and pay out 26.8% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Global Ship Lease has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Global Ship Lease is clearly a better dividend stock than its peers, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Global Ship Lease beats its peers on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

About Global Ship Lease

Global Ship Lease is a containership owner that leases vessels to container shipping companies under charter agreements. Its fleet includes ships of various sizes, serving the needs of operators on international trade routes. Founded in 2007, the company became publicly listed in 2008 and expanded its business through acquisitions, including its 2018 acquisition of Poseidon Containers. Global Ship Lease’s vessels operate worldwide through the shipping companies that charter them.