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

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

GSL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Fearnley Fonds upgraded Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Global Ship Lease in a research note on Friday, April 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research cut Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, B. Riley Financial raised their price objective on Global Ship Lease from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th.

Global Ship Lease Stock Performance

Global Ship Lease stock opened at $38.02 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $39.11 and a 200-day moving average of $37.71. Global Ship Lease has a 52 week low of $25.44 and a 52 week high of $42.70.

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

Global Ship Lease Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.625 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.6%. Global Ship Lease’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.74%.

Insider Transactions at Global Ship Lease

In related news, insider Georgios Giannopoulos sold 7,692 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.51, for a total transaction of $296,218.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 7.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Ship Lease

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GSL. First Trust Advisors LP bought a new stake in Global Ship Lease in the first quarter valued at $12,681,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in Global Ship Lease in the first quarter valued at $10,790,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Global Ship Lease by 407.4% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 170,769 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,984,000 after buying an additional 137,113 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Global Ship Lease by 225.9% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 185,168 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $6,894,000 after buying an additional 128,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 116,837 shares during the last quarter. 50.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.