Global Ship Lease, Inc. $GSL Shares Sold by Donald Smith & CO. Inc.

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) by 34.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,088,499 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 1,096,344 shares during the quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. owned about 0.06% of Global Ship Lease worth $73,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Ship Lease by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 23,127 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $810,000 after buying an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Ship Lease by 77.2% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 989 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Ship Lease by 5.2% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,827 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Global Ship Lease by 29.0% in the third quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 2,179 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in shares of Global Ship Lease by 0.7% in the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 83,650 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,568,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.08% of the company’s stock.

Global Ship Lease Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE GSL opened at $38.16 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.26 and a quick ratio of 2.21. The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.54. Global Ship Lease, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.30 and a 1 year high of $42.70.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 22nd. The shipping company reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $198.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.87 million. Global Ship Lease had a return on equity of 21.11% and a net margin of 50.01%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Global Ship Lease, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Ship Lease Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. Global Ship Lease’s payout ratio is 23.74%.

Insider Transactions at Global Ship Lease

In other news, insider Georgios Giannopoulos sold 7,692 shares of Global Ship Lease stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 7.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GSL. Zacks Research cut Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Global Ship Lease in a report on Friday, April 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Fearnley Fonds raised Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Ship Lease currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.50.

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.