Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) Reaches New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a strong sell rating to a hold rating. The stock traded as high as $41.44 and last traded at $41.5540, with a volume of 82371 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.75.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on GSL. Wall Street Zen cut Global Ship Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Global Ship Lease in a report on Friday, April 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a report 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. Finally, B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on Global Ship Lease from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Global Ship Lease presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.33.

Insider Activity at Global Ship Lease

In other Global Ship Lease news, insider Georgios Giannopoulos sold 7,692 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.51, for a total value of $296,218.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Ship Lease

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. U S Global Investors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Global Ship Lease by 220.4% during the 1st quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 18,690 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $696,000 after buying an additional 12,856 shares during the period. Barnett & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in Global Ship Lease by 32.6% during the first quarter. Barnett & Company Inc. now owns 33,605 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 8,260 shares in the last quarter. Fulcrum Capital LLC bought a new position in Global Ship Lease during the first quarter worth about $205,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in Global Ship Lease during the first quarter worth about $600,000. Finally, Isthmus Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 4.5% in the first quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 121,899 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $4,538,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.08% of the company’s stock.

Global Ship Lease Trading Down 0.3%

The company has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $38.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.28.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The shipping company reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $190.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.39 million. Global Ship Lease had a return on equity of 22.35% and a net margin of 54.33%.The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Global Ship Lease, Inc. will post 9.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Ship Lease Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.625 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 24th. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.0%. Global Ship Lease’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.95%.

Global Ship Lease Company Profile

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.