Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) Stock Rating Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group

Key Points

• Jefferies upgraded Global Ship Lease to a strong-buy, while MarketBeat shows a consensus of Moderate Buy with an average price target of $40.33 and analyst ratings ranging from Strong Buy to Sell.
• Shares opened at $38.45 (up ~2.1%), the company has a $1.38B market cap and a low PE of 3.38, and it recently beat quarterly estimates with $2.32 EPS on $190.95M revenue.
• Insider Georgios Giannopoulos sold 7,692 shares (~$296K) recently; institutional investors own about 50.08% of the stock while insiders hold 7.40%.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on GSL. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a report on Tuesday. B. Riley Financial upped 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. Zacks Research downgraded Global Ship Lease from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Global Ship Lease from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Global Ship Lease has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $40.33.

Global Ship Lease Trading Up 2.1%

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

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

Insider Activity

In other Global Ship Lease news, insider Georgios Giannopoulos sold 7,692 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.51, for a total value of $296,218.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 7.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Ship Lease

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 192.2% in the third quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 53,602 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $1,646,000 after acquiring an additional 35,258 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 100.1% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 56,817 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $1,991,000 after acquiring an additional 28,425 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D bought a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease in the third quarter worth about $456,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 9.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 168,327 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $5,168,000 after acquiring an additional 14,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 29.0% during the third quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 2,179 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. 50.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Global Ship Lease Company Profile

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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