Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $46.50.

GSL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. Zacks Research downgraded Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Fearnley Fonds raised Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Global Ship Lease in a report on Friday, April 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a report on Tuesday, April 21st.

Global Ship Lease Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of GSL opened at $39.77 on Thursday. Global Ship Lease has a 52-week low of $26.80 and a 52-week high of $42.70. The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $39.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.04. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a PE ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.90.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 22nd. The shipping company reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.16. Global Ship Lease had a net margin of 50.01% and a return on equity of 21.11%. The firm had revenue of $198.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.87 million. Global Ship Lease’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Global Ship Lease will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Ship Lease Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. Global Ship Lease’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.74%.

Institutional Trading of Global Ship Lease

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GSL. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease during the 1st quarter worth approximately $12,681,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Global Ship Lease in the first quarter worth approximately $10,790,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Global Ship Lease by 407.4% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 170,769 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $5,984,000 after acquiring an additional 137,113 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Global Ship Lease by 225.9% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 185,168 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $6,894,000 after acquiring an additional 128,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Global Ship Lease by 111.6% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 221,510 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $6,800,000 after purchasing an additional 116,837 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.