Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. B. Riley Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Global Ship Lease from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Global Ship Lease in a report on Friday, April 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Global Ship Lease presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.50.

Global Ship Lease Stock Performance

Shares of Global Ship Lease stock opened at $37.89 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Global Ship Lease has a twelve month low of $25.11 and a twelve month high of $42.70. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s fifty day moving average is $38.97 and its 200 day moving average is $37.44.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 22nd. The shipping company reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.16. Global Ship Lease had a net margin of 50.01% and a return on equity of 21.11%. The company had revenue of $198.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.87 million. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Global Ship Lease will post 9.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Ship Lease

In other news, insider Georgios Giannopoulos sold 7,692 shares of the company’s 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Ship Lease

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 2.7% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 626,787 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $19,242,000 after purchasing an additional 16,188 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 5.3% during the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 613,287 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $16,136,000 after purchasing an additional 31,047 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 23.4% during 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 period. CSM Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. CSM Advisors LLC now owns 446,060 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $15,629,000 after purchasing an additional 13,141 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Global Ship Lease during the first quarter valued at about $12,681,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.08% of the company’s stock.

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.