Short Interest in Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) Drops By 15.8%

Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 660,302 shares, a decline of 15.8% from the November 30th total of 784,297 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 517,012 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 517,012 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Global Ship Lease from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Global Ship Lease from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.50.

Global Ship Lease Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of GSL stock opened at $34.94 on Wednesday. Global Ship Lease has a 1-year low of $17.73 and a 1-year high of $37.22. The company has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 2.14. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.74.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The shipping company reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $192.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.36 million. Global Ship Lease had a net margin of 53.62% and a return on equity of 23.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Global Ship Lease will post 9.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Ship Lease Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.625 per share. This is an increase from Global Ship Lease’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 21st. Global Ship Lease’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in Global Ship Lease during the 1st quarter worth approximately $279,000. State of Wyoming boosted its stake in shares of Global Ship Lease by 14.5% in the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 15,496 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $354,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Global Ship Lease by 3.9% during the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 44,162 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,640 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its stake in Global Ship Lease by 321.6% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 8,222 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 6,272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new position in Global Ship Lease in the 1st quarter valued at $13,304,000. 50.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.