Insider Selling: Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) CFO Sells $2,175,816.60 in Stock

Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) CFO Anastasios Psaropoulos sold 48,330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.02, for a total value of $2,175,816.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 68,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,092,783.96. The trade was a 41.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Anastasios Psaropoulos also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, August 26th, Anastasios Psaropoulos sold 1,670 shares of Global Ship Lease stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.03, for a total value of $75,200.10.

Global Ship Lease Stock Performance

NYSE:GSL opened at $44.48 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $41.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.82. Global Ship Lease, Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.28 and a 1-year high of $45.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 2.06. The firm has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.90.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The shipping company reported $2.48 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $198.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.85 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.67 EPS. Global Ship Lease’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Global Ship Lease, Inc. will post 9.62 EPS for the current year.

Global Ship Lease Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. Global Ship Lease’s payout ratio is 24.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on GSL shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research upgraded Global Ship Lease from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Global Ship Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. B. Riley Financial raised 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, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Global Ship Lease from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Ship Lease presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.00.

Institutional Trading of Global Ship Lease

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in Global Ship Lease during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in Global Ship Lease in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. SHP Wealth Management purchased a new position in Global Ship Lease in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Strengthening Families & Communities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.08% of the company’s stock.

About Global Ship Lease

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.