Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) Reaches New 12-Month High After Earnings Beat

Shares of Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $33.85 and last traded at $34.0340, with a volume of 195444 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $31.68.

The shipping company reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Global Ship Lease had a net margin of 53.09% and a return on equity of 24.81%. The business’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Global Ship Lease Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 24th were paid a dividend of $0.5469 per share. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.4%. This is a positive change from Global Ship Lease’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Global Ship Lease’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GSL has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Ship Lease

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Global Ship Lease by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,012 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $503,000 after buying an additional 1,988 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Ship Lease by 61.2% in the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 21,156 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $483,000 after acquiring an additional 8,033 shares during the period. Isthmus Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 113,625 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,596,000 after acquiring an additional 793 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Global Ship Lease by 41.9% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 2,430 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC increased its holdings in Global Ship Lease by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 511,215 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $11,681,000 after purchasing an additional 7,470 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.08% of the company’s stock.

Global Ship Lease Trading Up 8.4%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.94. The company has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.20.

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.