Short Interest in Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) Drops By 15.8%

Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 660,302 shares, a decrease of 15.8% from the November 30th total of 784,297 shares. Currently, 1.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 517,012 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 517,012 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days. Currently, 1.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Ship Lease

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Global Ship Lease during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Global Ship Lease in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Global Ship Lease by 77.2% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 989 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the period. Avion Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease during the third quarter valued at about $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GSL. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Global Ship Lease from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Global Ship Lease from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Global Ship Lease presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.50.

Global Ship Lease Price Performance

Global Ship Lease stock opened at $34.94 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $33.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.74. Global Ship Lease has a 12-month low of $17.73 and a 12-month high of $37.22. The stock has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.98.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The shipping company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $192.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.36 million. Global Ship Lease had a net margin of 53.62% and a return on equity of 23.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Global Ship Lease will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Ship Lease Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st were given a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Global Ship Lease’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.2%. Global Ship Lease’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.44%.

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.