Global Ship Lease, Inc. $GSL Shares Acquired by U S Global Investors Inc.

U S Global Investors Inc. lifted its position in Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) by 220.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,690 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 12,856 shares during the quarter. U S Global Investors Inc.’s holdings in Global Ship Lease were worth $696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GSL. Royal Palms Capital LLC acquired a new position in Global Ship Lease in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,665,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Global Ship Lease by 100.1% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 56,817 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,991,000 after purchasing an additional 28,425 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease during the fourth quarter worth about $949,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Global Ship Lease by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 50,016 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,753,000 after purchasing an additional 14,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Global Ship Lease by 9.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 168,327 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,168,000 after purchasing an additional 14,424 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GSL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research report on Friday, April 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.50.

Global Ship Lease Stock Up 1.8%

GSL stock traded up $0.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $40.13. The company had a trading volume of 243,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 257,052. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 2.26. The company has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.90. Global Ship Lease, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.20 and a fifty-two 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $198.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.87 million. Global Ship Lease had a net margin of 50.01% and a return on equity of 21.11%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Global Ship Lease, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Ship Lease Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. Global Ship Lease’s payout ratio is 23.74%.

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.