Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

GSL has been the topic of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Global Ship Lease from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research report on Friday, July 17th. B. Riley Financial upped their price target on shares of Global Ship Lease from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Global Ship Lease from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.00.

Global Ship Lease Price Performance

Shares of GSL stock opened at $42.27 on Friday. Global Ship Lease has a twelve month low of $27.28 and a twelve month high of $44.69. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.90.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The shipping company reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.42 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $198.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.85 million. Global Ship Lease had a return on equity of 19.92% and a net margin of 49.10%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.67 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Global Ship Lease will post 9.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Ship Lease

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Global Ship Lease during the first quarter worth $12,681,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease in the 1st quarter worth $10,790,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Global Ship Lease by 407.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 170,769 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $5,984,000 after purchasing an additional 137,113 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Global Ship Lease by 225.9% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 185,168 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $6,894,000 after buying an additional 128,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Global Ship Lease by 111.6% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 221,510 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $6,800,000 after buying an additional 116,837 shares in the last quarter. 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.