Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) Insider Georgios Giannopoulos Sells 7,692 Shares of Company Stock

Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) insider Georgios Giannopoulos sold 7,692 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.08, for a total value of $346,755.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Global Ship Lease Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of NYSE:GSL opened at $41.98 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.06 and a current ratio of 2.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $44.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.32. Global Ship Lease, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.81 and a 52-week high of $46.57.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The shipping company reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $198.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.85 million. Global Ship Lease had a return on equity of 19.92% and a net margin of 49.10%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.67 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Global Ship Lease, Inc. will post 9.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Ship Lease Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.6250 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.0%. Global Ship Lease’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GSL. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Global Ship Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Global Ship Lease from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. B. Riley Financial increased their price target on shares of Global Ship Lease from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of Global Ship Lease from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Ship Lease

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SHP Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 49.4% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,579 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Ship Lease during the second quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Ship Lease during the second quarter valued at approximately $103,000. Finally, Venture Visionary Partners LLC bought a new position in Global Ship Lease during the third quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Institutional investors own 50.08% of the company’s stock.

About Global Ship Lease

Global Ship Lease, Inc (NYSE:GSL) is a containership owner and charterer that provides maritime transportation capacity to liner companies. The company owns and manages a fleet of container vessels designed to transport manufactured goods, consumer products, industrial materials and other containerized cargo across international trade routes.

Global Ship Lease generally employs time-charter arrangements, under which its vessels are leased to container shipping companies for specified periods.