Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on GSL. Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Global Ship Lease from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Global Ship Lease from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on shares of Global Ship Lease from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a report on Friday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Ship Lease presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.00.

Global Ship Lease Stock Performance

Shares of GSL stock opened at $41.82 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.90. Global Ship Lease has a fifty-two week low of $27.28 and a fifty-two week high of $44.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.06 and a current ratio of 2.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $40.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.18.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The shipping company reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $198.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.85 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Global Ship Lease will post 9.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Ship Lease Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. Global Ship Lease’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

Institutional Trading of Global Ship Lease

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GSL. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Global Ship Lease during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. SHP Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, LOM Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 50.08% of the company’s stock.

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.