Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) Upgraded 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 research report sent to investors 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 note on Monday, March 4th.

Global Ship Lease Stock Performance

NYSE:GSL opened at $22.86 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $804.44 million, a PE ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.77. Global Ship Lease has a 1-year low of $16.80 and a 1-year high of $23.06.

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

Global Ship Lease Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Global Ship Lease’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.01%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whittier Trust Co. acquired a new stake in Global Ship Lease during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 87.6% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,024 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 150.2% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,186 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 4,314 shares during the period. Clear Street Markets LLC acquired a new stake in Global Ship Lease during the 4th quarter worth approximately $172,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC purchased a new position in Global Ship Lease in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $201,000. 50.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.