Wealthstar Advisors LLC Takes Position in Global Ship Lease, Inc. $GSL

Wealthstar Advisors LLC bought a new position in Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 16,732 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $623,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Palms Capital LLC acquired a new position in Global Ship Lease in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,665,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Ship Lease by 100.1% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 56,817 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,991,000 after purchasing an additional 28,425 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease during the 4th quarter worth approximately $949,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 39.7% during the 4th quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 50,016 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,753,000 after purchasing an additional 14,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 168,327 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,168,000 after purchasing an additional 14,424 shares in the last quarter. 50.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on GSL. B. Riley Financial boosted their target price 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. Zacks Research cut shares of Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research report on Friday, April 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.50.

Insider Activity

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

Global Ship Lease Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of GSL stock opened at $38.20 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.89. Global Ship Lease, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.60 and a 1-year high of $42.70.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $198.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.87 million. Global Ship Lease had a return on equity of 21.11% and a net margin of 50.01%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Global Ship Lease, Inc. will post 9.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Ship Lease Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. Global Ship Lease’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.74%.

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.