Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) Raises Dividend to $0.69 Per Share

Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.6875 per share by the shipping company on Thursday, December 3rd. This represents a $2.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 20th. This is a 10.0% increase from Global Ship Lease’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.6250.

Global Ship Lease has a dividend payout ratio of 27.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Global Ship Lease to earn $10.10 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.50 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.8%.

Global Ship Lease Price Performance

Shares of GSL opened at $41.05 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.63. Global Ship Lease has a twelve month low of $32.47 and a twelve month high of $46.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 9th. The shipping company reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $201.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.00 million. Global Ship Lease had a net margin of 49.10% and a return on equity of 19.92%. The company’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.62 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Global Ship Lease will post 9.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Global Ship Lease

In other news, CEO Thomas Lister sold 30,000 shares of Global Ship Lease stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.26, for a total transaction of $1,327,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,238.84. The trade was a 65.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Anastasios Psaropoulos sold 48,330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 68,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,092,783.96. The trade was a 41.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 91,692 shares of company stock worth $4,104,852 over the last three months.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Ship Lease

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,859,000. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Global Ship Lease in the 1st quarter valued at $12,681,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 65.5% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 294,674 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $10,971,000 after acquiring an additional 116,606 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Global Ship Lease in the 1st quarter valued at $10,790,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Global Ship Lease by 51.8% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 200,806 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $7,476,000 after purchasing an additional 68,535 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.08% of the company’s stock.

Global Ship Lease Company Profile

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.