Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) Sets New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $44.80 and last traded at $44.3580, with a volume of 69306 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $43.83.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on GSL. Fearnley Fonds upgraded Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Global Ship Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Global Ship Lease from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a report on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Ship Lease currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Global Ship Lease Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $40.93 and its 200-day moving average is $39.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 2.06.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The shipping company reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $198.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.85 million. Global Ship Lease had a net margin of 49.10% and a return on equity of 19.92%. Global Ship Lease’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.67 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Global Ship Lease, Inc. will post 9.62 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. Global Ship Lease’s payout ratio is 24.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Ship Lease

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GSL. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Global Ship Lease during the second quarter worth about $27,859,000. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease in the first quarter valued at about $12,681,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease during the 1st quarter valued at about $10,790,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Global Ship Lease by 407.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Global Ship Lease by 225.9% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. 50.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.