Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) Given “Buy” Rating at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group reiterated their buy rating on shares of Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) in a research report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a $29.00 price target on the shipping company’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Global Ship Lease from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Global Ship Lease Price Performance

Global Ship Lease stock traded up $1.59 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $26.63. 613,462 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 659,778. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.78. Global Ship Lease has a 12 month low of $16.80 and a 12 month high of $30.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market cap of $936.88 million, a PE ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.64.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The shipping company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $175.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.07 million. Global Ship Lease had a return on equity of 29.44% and a net margin of 46.30%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Global Ship Lease will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Ship Lease Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 23rd. This is a boost from Global Ship Lease’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Global Ship Lease’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.95%.

Institutional Trading of Global Ship Lease

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GSL. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Global Ship Lease by 3,779.3% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,508,898 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $43,406,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470,002 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 327,709 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $9,435,000 after purchasing an additional 12,241 shares during the last quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Ship Lease during the 2nd quarter valued at about $388,000. Privium Fund Management UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Global Ship Lease during the 2nd quarter valued at about $369,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Global Ship Lease during the 2nd quarter valued at about $221,000. 50.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Global Ship Lease

Global Ship Lease, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in owning and chartering of containerships under fixed-rate charters to container shipping companies worldwide. As of March 11, 2024, it owned 68 mid-sized and smaller containerships, ranging from 2,207 to 11,040 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU), with an aggregate capacity of 375,406 TEU.