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

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

GSL has been the topic of a number of other reports. B. Riley Financial lifted 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. 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 began coverage on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research note on Friday, April 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, 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. One 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.50.

Global Ship Lease Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GSL opened at $37.89 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.60 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. Global Ship Lease has a 1 year low of $25.11 and a 1 year high of $42.70.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Ship Lease

In other Global Ship Lease news, insider Georgios Giannopoulos sold 7,692 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were 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 available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Global Ship Lease

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GSL. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease during the third quarter worth $25,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Ship Lease by 77.2% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 989 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, SHP Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors 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.