First Trust Advisors LP Purchases New Holdings in Global Ship Lease, Inc. $GSL

First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 340,621 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $12,681,000. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.95% of Global Ship Lease as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GSL. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised 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 valued at $5,984,000 after purchasing an additional 137,113 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $6,894,000 after buying an additional 128,351 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Global Ship Lease by 111.6% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 221,510 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $6,800,000 after buying an additional 116,837 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in shares of Global Ship Lease by 23.4% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 567,442 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $17,420,000 after buying an additional 107,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Palms Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease in the fourth quarter worth $3,665,000. 50.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Ship Lease Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GSL opened at $44.50 on Friday. Global Ship Lease, Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.28 and a twelve month high of $44.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.82.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 22nd. The shipping company reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.16. Global Ship Lease had a return on equity of 21.11% and a net margin of 50.01%.The business had revenue of $198.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.87 million. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Global Ship Lease, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Ship Lease Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. Global Ship Lease's dividend payout ratio is 23.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on GSL. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a report on Friday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Global Ship Lease in a report on Friday, April 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research raised shares of Global Ship Lease from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of Global Ship Lease from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Global Ship Lease from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $46.50.

About Global Ship Lease

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.

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