Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) Shares Cross Below Two Hundred Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Global Ship Lease shares fell below their 200-day moving average, trading as low as $40.15 versus the $40.53 average, and were last down about 3.8% at $40.17.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: the stock has a consensus “Buy” rating and a $51.00 average price target, despite one recent downgrade to “Hold.”
• The company beat quarterly expectations with $2.48 EPS and $198.69 million in revenue, while insiders sold approximately $4.1 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Shares of Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL - Get Free Report) crossed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $40.53 and traded as low as $40.15. Global Ship Lease shares last traded at $40.1680, with a volume of 289,643 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GSL shares. B. Riley Financial boosted their price objective on Global Ship Lease from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research raised Global Ship Lease from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Global Ship Lease from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Global Ship Lease from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Global Ship Lease Trading Down 3.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 2.06. The stock's 50-day moving average is $44.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.53. The stock has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.98.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The shipping company reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.42 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $198.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $186.85 million. Global Ship Lease had a net margin of 49.10% and a return on equity of 19.92%. Global Ship Lease's quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.67 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Global Ship Lease, Inc. will post 9.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Global Ship Lease

In other news, insider Georgios Giannopoulos sold 7,692 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.08, for a total transaction of $346,755.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Anastasios Psaropoulos sold 48,330 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.02, for a total value of $2,175,816.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 68,698 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,092,783.96. This represents a 41.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 91,692 shares of company stock worth $4,104,852 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Ship Lease

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GSL. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in Global Ship Lease in the second quarter worth $27,859,000. First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new position in Global Ship Lease during the first quarter worth $12,681,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in Global Ship Lease during the first quarter valued at $10,790,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in Global Ship Lease by 65.5% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 294,674 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $10,971,000 after acquiring an additional 116,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Global Ship Lease during the second quarter valued at $4,210,000. 50.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Global Ship Lease

Global Ship Lease, Inc NYSE: GSL is a containership owner and chartering company. It owns and manages a fleet of mid-sized and smaller containerships, which are vessels designed to transport containerized cargo such as manufactured goods, consumer products and industrial materials.

The company primarily generates revenue by chartering its vessels to container shipping companies under fixed-rate time charter agreements. Its customers operate liner services that connect major ports and trade routes worldwide, allowing Global Ship Lease to participate in global seaborne commerce while its charterers manage cargo transportation and logistics.

Global Ship Lease was founded in 2007 and completed its initial public offering in 2008.

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