Baird Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in SFL Corporation Ltd. $SFL

Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of SFL Corporation Ltd. (NYSE:SFL - Free Report) by 26.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 146,496 shares of the shipping company's stock after purchasing an additional 30,417 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned 0.10% of SFL worth $1,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SFL. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in SFL by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,395 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 1,474 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in SFL by 28.3% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 50,680 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $518,000 after purchasing an additional 11,183 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in SFL by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 910,484 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $9,305,000 after buying an additional 135,768 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in SFL by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 200,546 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $2,050,000 after buying an additional 16,094 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in shares of SFL during the fourth quarter valued at $202,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.59% of the company's stock.

SFL Stock Down 3.2%

NYSE:SFL traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $8.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,308,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,788,046. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 30.82 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $8.78 and a 200-day moving average of $8.50. SFL Corporation Ltd. has a 1 year low of $6.78 and a 1 year high of $11.85.

SFL (NYSE:SFL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 19th. The shipping company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter. SFL had a return on equity of 6.67% and a net margin of 3.97%.The firm had revenue of $192.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $192.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.16 earnings per share. SFL's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis.

SFL Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. SFL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 307.69%.

SFL Company Profile

SFL Corporation Ltd., a maritime and offshore asset owning and chartering company, engages in the ownership, operation, and chartering out of vessels and offshore related assets on medium and long-term charters. The company operates in various sectors of the maritime, and shipping and offshore industries, including oil transportation, dry bulk shipments, chemical transportation, oil products transportation, container transportation, car transportation, and drilling rigs.