Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts give Global Ship Lease a consensus “Hold” rating (five brokerages: 1 sell, 1 hold, 3 buy) with an average 12‑month price target of $40.33, while B. Riley and Jefferies recently issued buy ratings with $48 and $45 targets and Zacks cut to a strong sell.
• Insider Georgios Giannopoulos sold 7,692 shares at an average $38.51 on April 7 (~$296k); insiders own 7.4% of the stock and institutional investors own about 50.08%.
• The most recent quarter slightly beat estimates with EPS $2.32 (vs. $2.31) and revenue $190.95M (vs. $188.39M), the company shows strong margins and ROE, and it pays a quarterly dividend of $0.625 (annualized $2.50) for a 6.5% yield.

Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Hold" by the five brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.3333.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GSL. B. Riley Financial raised their price objective on Global Ship Lease from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Global Ship Lease in a report on Friday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research lowered Global Ship Lease from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Wall Street Zen lowered Global Ship Lease from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a report on Tuesday.

Insider Activity at Global Ship Lease

In other news, insider Georgios Giannopoulos sold 7,692 shares of Global Ship Lease stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.51, for a total transaction of $296,218.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GSL. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Global Ship Lease during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Global Ship Lease during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 77.2% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 989 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the period. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Ship Lease during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, SHP Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Global Ship Lease during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.08% of the company's stock.

Global Ship Lease Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GSL opened at $38.45 on Friday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $38.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.58. Global Ship Lease has a 12 month low of $20.92 and a 12 month high of $41.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 2.00.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The shipping company reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.01. Global Ship Lease had a net margin of 54.33% and a return on equity of 22.35%. The firm had revenue of $190.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $188.39 million. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Global Ship Lease will post 9.68 EPS for the current year.

Global Ship Lease Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 24th. Global Ship Lease's payout ratio is currently 21.95%.

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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