Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) Short Interest Up 6.5% in March

Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,150,000 shares, an increase of 6.5% from the February 29th total of 1,080,000 shares. Currently, 3.5% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 605,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Global Ship Lease Stock Down 0.7 %

Global Ship Lease stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $20.23. The company had a trading volume of 681,105 shares, compared to its average volume of 631,645. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Global Ship Lease has a 1 year low of $16.80 and a 1 year high of $21.94. The business has a fifty day moving average of $20.30 and a 200 day moving average of $19.23. The stock has a market cap of $711.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.50.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 4th. The shipping company reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $178.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $171.54 million. Global Ship Lease had a return on equity of 29.87% and a net margin of 45.12%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.14 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Global Ship Lease will post 9.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Ship Lease Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.42%. Global Ship Lease's payout ratio is 18.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GSL. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research note on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Ship Lease from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th.

Institutional Trading of Global Ship Lease

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Global Ship Lease by 713.8% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 129,200 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $3,681,000 after purchasing an additional 113,324 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Global Ship Lease by 381.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 62,993 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $1,795,000 after acquiring an additional 49,905 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Global Ship Lease by 29.6% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 23,890 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $681,000 after purchasing an additional 5,454 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Global Ship Lease by 260.0% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,600 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Global Ship Lease by 14.3% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 25,081 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $715,000 after purchasing an additional 3,137 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.08% of the company's stock.

Global Ship Lease Company Profile

Global Ship Lease, Inc owns and charters containerships under fixed-rate charters to container shipping companies. As of March 10, 2023, it owned 65 mid-sized and smaller containerships with an aggregate capacity of 342,348 twenty-foot equivalent units. The company was founded in 2007 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.