Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) Lifted to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a buy rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research report on Monday, March 4th.

Global Ship Lease Stock Performance

Shares of GSL stock opened at $23.15 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Global Ship Lease has a 52 week low of $16.80 and a 52 week high of $23.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $814.47 million, a PE ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $20.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.79.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The shipping company reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.15. Global Ship Lease had a net margin of 45.12% and a return on equity of 29.87%. The company had revenue of $178.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $171.54 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.14 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Global Ship Lease will post 9.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Ship Lease Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.48%. Global Ship Lease’s payout ratio is 18.01%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Ship Lease

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 62,426 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 3,941 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 28,751 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $584,000 after purchasing an additional 2,703 shares in the last quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC now owns 78,240 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,588,000 after purchasing an additional 14,725 shares in the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease in the 1st quarter valued at $559,000. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in Global Ship Lease during the 1st quarter worth $1,227,000. 50.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Global Ship Lease

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.