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

Shares of Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the five analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $38.3333.

GSL has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Global Ship Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Zacks Research cut shares of Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. B. Riley Financial upped their price target on shares of Global Ship Lease from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Ship Lease

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Global Ship Lease by 0.6% during the second quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,238,868 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $85,215,000 after purchasing an additional 18,783 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in shares of Global Ship Lease by 2.7% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 626,787 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $19,242,000 after buying an additional 16,188 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Global Ship Lease by 5.3% in the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 613,287 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $16,136,000 after buying an additional 31,047 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in Global Ship Lease by 23.4% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 567,442 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $17,420,000 after buying an additional 107,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CSM Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Global Ship Lease by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. CSM Advisors LLC now owns 446,060 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $15,629,000 after buying an additional 13,141 shares during the last quarter. 50.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Global Ship Lease Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE GSL opened at $35.96 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Global Ship Lease has a 12 month low of $17.73 and a 12 month high of $41.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $38.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.73.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The shipping company reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $190.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.39 million. Global Ship Lease had a net margin of 54.33% and a return on equity of 22.35%. Global Ship Lease’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Global Ship Lease will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Ship Lease Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th were issued a $0.625 dividend. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 24th. Global Ship Lease’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.95%.

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.