Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) Director Sells 4,000 Shares of Stock

Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) Director Ulrike Helfer sold 4,000 shares of Global Ship Lease stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.82, for a total value of $179,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $381,104.46. This trade represents a 31.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Global Ship Lease Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of GSL stock traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $45.78. 329,876 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 338,557. The firm has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a PE ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.98. Global Ship Lease, Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.28 and a 1 year high of $46.57. The company has a quick ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $44.18 and a 200 day moving average of $40.86.

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

Global Ship Lease Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st were issued a $0.6250 dividend. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 21st. Global Ship Lease’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GSL shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Global Ship Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. B. Riley Financial upped their price target on Global Ship Lease from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Global Ship Lease from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Global Ship Lease from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Global Ship Lease presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Ship Lease

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. acquired a new stake in Global Ship Lease in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,859,000. First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease in the first quarter worth about $12,681,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Ship Lease by 65.5% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 294,674 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $10,971,000 after buying an additional 116,606 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease in the first quarter valued at about $10,790,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 51.8% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 200,806 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $7,476,000 after buying an additional 68,535 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.08% of the company’s stock.

Global Ship Lease Company Profile

Global Ship Lease, Inc (NYSE:GSL) is a containership owner and charterer that provides maritime transportation capacity to liner companies. The company owns and manages a fleet of container vessels designed to transport manufactured goods, consumer products, industrial materials and other containerized cargo across international trade routes.

Global Ship Lease generally employs time-charter arrangements, under which its vessels are leased to container shipping companies for specified periods.