Renaissance Technologies LLC Reduces Position in Global Ship Lease, Inc. $GSL

Renaissance Technologies LLC lowered its stake in Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) by 10.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 618,750 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 74,600 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Global Ship Lease were worth $23,036,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GSL. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in Global Ship Lease by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 23,127 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $810,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 5.2% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,827 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 0.7% during the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 83,650 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,568,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its position in Global Ship Lease by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 28,668 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $880,000 after buying an additional 701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Global Ship Lease by 73.9% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,673 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 711 shares during the period. 50.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Ship Lease Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of GSL opened at $43.31 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $39.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.76. Global Ship Lease, Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.28 and a 12 month high of $43.92.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last released its quarterly 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 analysts’ expectations of $182.87 million. Global Ship Lease had a net margin of 50.01% and a return on equity of 21.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Global Ship Lease, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share 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 5.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. Global Ship Lease’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GSL. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Global Ship Lease in a report on Friday, April 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a report on Friday, July 17th. Fearnley Fonds raised Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Global Ship Lease from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Global Ship Lease presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $46.50.

Global Ship Lease 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.