SFL (NYSE:SFL) Trading 4.9% Higher After Dividend Announcement

Key Points

• SFL Corporation Ltd. shares rose by 4.9% following the announcement of a $0.20 dividend set to be paid on September 29th.
• The company's annualized dividend yield is currently 10.0%, with a notably high payout ratio of 263.41%.
• Institutional investors have increased their stake in SFL, with MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosting its holdings by 150.9% in the first quarter.

SFL Corporation Ltd. (NYSE:SFL - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 4.9% on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $8.02 and last traded at $7.99. 708,837 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 1,225,234 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.61.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.8%. SFL's dividend payout ratio is presently 415.38%.

SFL Stock Down 2.0%

The firm has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 31.25 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.30. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $8.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.66.

SFL (NYSE:SFL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 19th. The shipping company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter. SFL had a net margin of 3.97% and a return on equity of 6.67%. The business had revenue of $192.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $192.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.16 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ellevest Inc. raised its holdings in SFL by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 45,429 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 1,146 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its holdings in SFL by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 13,722 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in SFL by 65.3% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in SFL by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,395 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $198,000 after purchasing an additional 1,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in SFL by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 16,034 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510 shares in the last quarter. 28.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About SFL

SFL Corporation Ltd., a maritime and offshore asset owning and chartering company, engages in the ownership, operation, and chartering out of vessels and offshore related assets on medium and long-term charters. The company operates in various sectors of the maritime, and shipping and offshore industries, including oil transportation, dry bulk shipments, chemical transportation, oil products transportation, container transportation, car transportation, and drilling rigs.