Short Interest in Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) Rises By 17.8%

Key Points

• Short interest rose 17.8% — as of April 15 short interest totaled 808,259 shares (about 2.4% of shares outstanding) with a short-interest ratio of 3.6 days based on average daily volume.
• Institutional buying increased sharply — major investors including Goldman Sachs, SG Americas and Millennium materially boosted positions, and institutions now own roughly 50.08% of the stock.
• Strong earnings and high dividend yield — GSL slightly beat quarterly EPS estimates, reports high profitability (net margin ~54.3%, ROE ~22.35%), and pays a $0.625 quarterly dividend (annualized $2.50, ~6.4% yield).

Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 808,259 shares, a growth of 17.8% from the March 31st total of 685,942 shares. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 222,461 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Insider Transactions at Global Ship Lease

In related news, insider Georgios Giannopoulos sold 7,692 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.51, for a total transaction of $296,218.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Institutional Trading of Global Ship Lease

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GSL. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Global Ship Lease by 407.4% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 170,769 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $5,984,000 after purchasing an additional 137,113 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Global Ship Lease by 225.9% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 185,168 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $6,894,000 after purchasing an additional 128,351 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Global Ship Lease by 111.6% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 221,510 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $6,800,000 after purchasing an additional 116,837 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in shares of Global Ship Lease by 23.4% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 567,442 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $17,420,000 after purchasing an additional 107,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Palms Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,665,000. 50.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GSL shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. B. Riley Financial upped their target price on shares of Global Ship Lease from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Global Ship Lease from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research report on Friday, April 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Global Ship Lease from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Global Ship Lease currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.33.

Global Ship Lease Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of GSL opened at $39.34 on Thursday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $38.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.96. Global Ship Lease has a twelve month low of $21.05 and a twelve month high of $41.40. 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 (NYSE:GSL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The shipping company reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $190.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.39 million. Global Ship Lease had a net margin of 54.33% and a return on equity of 22.35%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Global Ship Lease will post 9.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Ship Lease Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th were given a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 24th. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.4%. Global Ship Lease's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.95%.

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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