SFL (NYSE:SFL) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SFL (NYSE:SFL) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. BTIG Research increased their target price on shares of SFL from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings raised SFL from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.00.

SFL Stock Performance

NYSE:SFL opened at $10.61 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.04. The stock has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of -53.03 and a beta of 0.41. SFL has a fifty-two week low of $6.73 and a fifty-two week high of $11.28.

SFL (NYSE:SFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The shipping company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $175.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.36 million. SFL had a negative net margin of 3.61% and a negative return on equity of 0.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 23.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.15 EPS.

SFL Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 12th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 12th. SFL’s dividend payout ratio is presently -400.00%.

Institutional Trading of SFL

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SFL. Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of SFL during the 4th quarter worth approximately $121,000. Fearnley Asset Management AS acquired a new position in shares of SFL during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,596,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in SFL in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $144,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in SFL by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 660,013 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,155,000 after buying an additional 86,339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in SFL by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 295,668 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,309,000 after buying an additional 59,141 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.59% of the company’s stock.

SFL Company Profile

Ship Finance International Limited (NYSE: SFL) is an independent owner of modern, large-size ocean-going vessels that provides finance and leasing services to the global shipping industry. The company’s fleet encompasses a diversified mix of crude oil tankers, product and chemical tankers, liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, dry bulk carriers, container vessels and floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) units. By structuring long-term charter agreements and bareboat leases with major oil companies, commodity traders and offshore operators, Ship Finance International seeks to deliver stable cash flows and risk-adjusted returns for its shareholders.

In its core business, Ship Finance International acquires or finances vessels through forward sales agreements and then charters them out under fixed-rate contracts, typically ranging from five to 20 years in duration.