Trexquant Investment LP Decreases Position in SFL Corporation Ltd. $SFL

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP has significantly reduced its stake in SFL Corporation Ltd. by 59.8%, now holding 168,853 shares after selling 251,092 shares in the first quarter.
• SFL recently reported earnings of $0.01 per share with revenue of $192.59 million, slightly exceeding analyst expectations, but down from $0.16 EPS from the same quarter last year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, culminating in an annualized yield of 9.7%, although its dividend payout ratio stands at a high 415.38%.

Trexquant Investment LP cut its holdings in SFL Corporation Ltd. (NYSE:SFL - Free Report) by 59.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 168,853 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 251,092 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned about 0.12% of SFL worth $1,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in SFL by 63.1% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 97,240 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $994,000 after buying an additional 37,622 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,750 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new stake in SFL in the first quarter worth approximately $76,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in SFL by 5.6% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,314,878 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $10,782,000 after acquiring an additional 69,667 shares during the period. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp grew its stake in SFL by 803.8% in the first quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 123,535 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $1,013,000 after acquiring an additional 109,866 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.59% of the company's stock.

SFL Stock Performance

SFL stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $8.31. 1,519,346 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,760,705. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a PE ratio of 31.96 and a beta of 0.54. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $8.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. SFL Corporation Ltd. has a one year low of $6.78 and a one 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 earnings per share (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 period in the previous year, the company posted $0.16 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis.

SFL Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.6%. SFL's dividend payout ratio is currently 415.38%.

About SFL

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.