Crescent Grove Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Global Ship Lease, Inc. $GSL

Crescent Grove Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 149,471 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,600 shares during the period. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC’s holdings in Global Ship Lease were worth $5,237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Global Ship Lease by 407.4% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 170,769 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,984,000 after acquiring an additional 137,113 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in Global Ship Lease during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Royal Palms Capital LLC purchased a new position in Global Ship Lease during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,665,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its stake in Global Ship Lease by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 50,016 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,753,000 after acquiring an additional 14,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Global Ship Lease during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented 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. Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research note on Friday, April 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research raised shares of Global Ship Lease from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, B. Riley Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Global Ship Lease from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.50.

Global Ship Lease Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of GSL opened at $37.46 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 2.26. Global Ship Lease, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.11 and a fifty-two week high of $42.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $39.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.42.

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

Global Ship Lease Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a $0.625 dividend. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. Global Ship Lease’s payout ratio is presently 23.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Ship Lease

In other news, insider Georgios Giannopoulos sold 7,692 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.51, for a total value of $296,218.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

About Global Ship Lease

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.