Acadian Asset Management LLC Sells 223,969 Shares of Global Ship Lease, Inc. $GSL

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Global Ship Lease by 15.6%, selling 223,969 shares and now owns 1,215,851 shares valued at approximately $27.76 million.
• Global Ship Lease's quarterly earnings beat estimates, reporting $2.67 earnings per share against a consensus of $2.15, and it recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.53 to $0.5469 per share.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Global Ship Lease, with Jefferies maintaining a "buy" rating and a target price of $33.00, while Clarkson Capital downgraded their rating from "strong-buy" to "hold".

Acadian Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL - Free Report) by 15.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,215,851 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 223,969 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned about 3.43% of Global Ship Lease worth $27,757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GSL. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Global Ship Lease in the first quarter valued at $13,304,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Ship Lease by 182.9% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 180,858 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $4,133,000 after purchasing an additional 116,917 shares in the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Global Ship Lease by 2.6% in the first quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,220,085 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $73,579,000 after purchasing an additional 80,615 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its stake in shares of Global Ship Lease by 208.7% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 114,989 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $2,627,000 after purchasing an additional 77,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Global Ship Lease by 351.0% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 75,644 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $1,728,000 after purchasing an additional 58,872 shares in the last quarter. 50.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Global Ship Lease Price Performance

Shares of GSL stock remained flat at $31.96 during trading hours on Friday. The stock had a trading volume of 429,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 295,677. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $29.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.12. Global Ship Lease, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.73 and a 12 month high of $32.45.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The shipping company reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $191.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $177.98 million. Global Ship Lease had a return on equity of 24.81% and a net margin of 53.09%. Equities research analysts forecast that Global Ship Lease, Inc. will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Ship Lease Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 24th will be issued a $0.5469 dividend. This is a boost from Global Ship Lease's previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.8%. Global Ship Lease's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GSL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Clarkson Capital cut Global Ship Lease from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $28.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Global Ship Lease from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.50.

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.