Global Ship Lease (GSL) vs. The Competition Head to Head Analysis

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) is one of 80 publicly-traded companies in the “Marine Transportation” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare Global Ship Lease to related businesses based on the strength of its dividends, valuation, profitability, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Global Ship Lease and its competitors revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Global Ship Lease	$766.45 million	$416.45 million	3.76
Global Ship Lease Competitors	$3.68 billion	$344.61 million	12.37

Global Ship Lease’s competitors have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Global Ship Lease. Global Ship Lease is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Dividends

Global Ship Lease pays an annual dividend of $2.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.4%. Global Ship Lease pays out 24.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Marine Transportation” companies pay a dividend yield of 4.7% and pay out 26.8% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Global Ship Lease has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Global Ship Lease is clearly a better dividend stock than its competitors, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Global Ship Lease and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Global Ship Lease	49.10%	19.92%	12.81%
Global Ship Lease Competitors	31.40%	14.14%	6.98%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Global Ship Lease and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Global Ship Lease	0	1	3	1	3.00
Global Ship Lease Competitors	447	1658	1705	94	2.37

Global Ship Lease presently has a consensus target price of $51.00, suggesting a potential upside of 30.59%. As a group, “Marine Transportation” companies have a potential upside of 25.63%. Given Global Ship Lease’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Global Ship Lease is more favorable than its competitors.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

50.1% of Global Ship Lease shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.4% of shares of all “Marine Transportation” companies are owned by institutional investors. 7.4% of Global Ship Lease shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 27.2% of shares of all “Marine Transportation” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Global Ship Lease has a beta of 1.03, meaning that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Global Ship Lease’s competitors have a beta of 1.11, meaning that their average share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Global Ship Lease beats its competitors on 11 of the 15 factors compared.

Global Ship Lease Company Profile

Global Ship Lease, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in owning and chartering of containerships under fixed-rate charters to container shipping companies worldwide. As of March 11, 2024, it owned 68 mid-sized and smaller containerships, ranging from 2,207 to 11,040 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU), with an aggregate capacity of 375,406 TEU. The company was founded in 2007 and is based in Athens, Greece.