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

Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of SFL Corporation Ltd. (NYSE:SFL - Free Report) by 26.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 146,496 shares of the shipping company's stock after buying an additional 30,417 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of SFL worth $1,201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in SFL by 636.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,723 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 4,082 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in SFL by 39.6% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,986 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new position in SFL during the first quarter worth about $76,000. Paragon Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in SFL during the first quarter worth about $94,000. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in SFL by 16.2% during the first quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 12,556 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,750 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 28.59% of the company's stock.

SFL Stock Performance

NYSE:SFL traded up $0.03 on Wednesday, reaching $8.22. 958,351 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,756,044. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.60 and a beta of 0.54. SFL Corporation Ltd. has a 52 week low of $6.78 and a 52 week high of $11.85. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.52.

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

SFL Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. SFL's dividend payout ratio is presently 415.38%.

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.