SFL (NYSE:SFL) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SFL (NYSE:SFL) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of SFL from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of SFL in a report on Monday, December 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.00.

SFL Price Performance

Shares of SFL stock opened at $8.33 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $7.63 and its 200 day moving average is $8.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.42. SFL has a one year low of $6.73 and a one year high of $11.14. The stock has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -832.50 and a beta of 0.45.

SFL (NYSE:SFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 12th. The shipping company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.08. SFL had a negative net margin of 0.20% and a positive return on equity of 3.05%. The firm had revenue of $178.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.45 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis.

SFL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.6%. SFL’s dividend payout ratio is -8,000.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SFL

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in SFL by 16.7% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,847,616 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $28,973,000 after acquiring an additional 550,011 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of SFL by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,904,433 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $21,870,000 after purchasing an additional 97,689 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of SFL by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 752,960 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $6,174,000 after purchasing an additional 15,109 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SFL in the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,172,000. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of SFL by 13.4% during the third quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 502,960 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,787,000 after purchasing an additional 59,623 shares in the last quarter. 28.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About SFL

SFL Corporation Ltd., a maritime and offshore asset owning and chartering company, engages in the ownership, operation, and chartering out of vessels and offshore related assets on medium and long-term charters. The company operates in various sectors of the maritime, and shipping and offshore industries, including oil transportation, dry bulk shipments, chemical transportation, oil products transportation, container transportation, car transportation, and drilling rigs.