Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on GSL. Clarkson Capital upgraded Global Ship Lease from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Global Ship Lease from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th.

Global Ship Lease Stock Performance

Global Ship Lease stock traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $24.96. 415,234 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 415,672. The stock has a market capitalization of $884.76 million, a PE ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.58. Global Ship Lease has a 12-month low of $17.73 and a 12-month high of $30.32. The business's 50-day moving average is $22.05 and its 200-day moving average is $22.17.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 19th. The shipping company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.38. Global Ship Lease had a return on equity of 27.88% and a net margin of 46.38%. The firm had revenue of $190.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $171.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Global Ship Lease will post 9.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Ship Lease Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This is a boost from Global Ship Lease's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.41%. Global Ship Lease's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.83%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in Global Ship Lease in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Global Ship Lease by 6,856.5% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,600 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Global Ship Lease in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in Global Ship Lease in the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Global Ship Lease in the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. 50.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Global Ship Lease Company Profile

Global Ship Lease, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in owning and chartering of containerships under fixed-rate charters to container shipping companies worldwide. As of March 11, 2024, it owned 68 mid-sized and smaller containerships, ranging from 2,207 to 11,040 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU), with an aggregate capacity of 375,406 TEU.