SFL Co. Ltd. (NYSE:SFL) Short Interest Update

SFL Co. Ltd. (NYSE:SFL) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,520,000 shares, a decline of 21.6% from the March 15th total of 1,940,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 751,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

SFL Stock Up 0.6 %

SFL stock traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $12.65. The company had a trading volume of 398,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 743,862. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.21 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $12.96 and its 200-day moving average is $11.92. SFL has a fifty-two week low of $8.43 and a fifty-two week high of $13.74.

SFL (NYSE:SFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The shipping company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $209.57 million for the quarter. SFL had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 8.04%.

SFL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.22%. This is an increase from SFL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. SFL’s payout ratio is currently 157.58%.

Institutional Trading of SFL

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in SFL by 9.3% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,556,099 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $17,351,000 after acquiring an additional 131,903 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of SFL by 23.7% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 498,249 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $5,555,000 after buying an additional 95,502 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SFL by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 27,053 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 2,547 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SFL by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 28,213 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $315,000 after buying an additional 1,918 shares during the period. Finally, Doheny Asset Management CA boosted its holdings in shares of SFL by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 121,900 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,359,000 after buying an additional 6,900 shares during the period. 28.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of SFL from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of SFL from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.00.

SFL Company Profile

SFL Corporation Ltd., a maritime and offshore asset owning and chartering company, engages in the ownership, operation, and chartering out of vessels and offshore related assets on medium and long-term charters. The company operates in various sectors of the maritime, and shipping and offshore industries, including oil transportation, dry bulk shipments, chemical transportation, oil products transportation, container transportation, car transportation, and drilling rigs.