Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $51.00 According to Brokerages

Shares of Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) have earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $51.00.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GSL shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Global Ship Lease from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Global Ship Lease from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Wall Street Zen cut Global Ship Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, B. Riley Financial lifted their price target on Global Ship Lease from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th.

Insider Activity

In other Global Ship Lease news, CFO Anastasios Psaropoulos sold 48,330 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.02, for a total transaction of $2,175,816.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 68,698 shares in the company, valued at $3,092,783.96. This represents a 41.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Georgios Giannopoulos sold 7,692 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.08, for a total transaction of $346,755.36. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 91,692 shares of company stock worth $4,104,852 in the last three months. 7.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Ship Lease

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

Global Ship Lease Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE GSL opened at $41.85 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $44.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 2.06. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 0.98. Global Ship Lease has a 1 year low of $28.13 and a 1 year high of $46.57.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The shipping company reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $198.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.85 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Global Ship Lease will post 9.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.6250 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.0%. Global Ship Lease’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.04%.

About Global Ship Lease

Global Ship Lease, Inc (NYSE:GSL) is a containership owner and chartering company. It owns and manages a fleet of mid-sized and smaller containerships, which are vessels designed to transport containerized cargo such as manufactured goods, consumer products and industrial materials.

The company primarily generates revenue by chartering its vessels to container shipping companies under fixed-rate time charter agreements. Its customers operate liner services that connect major ports and trade routes worldwide, allowing Global Ship Lease to participate in global seaborne commerce while its charterers manage cargo transportation and logistics.

Global Ship Lease was founded in 2007 and completed its initial public offering in 2008.