Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $36.88 and last traded at $36.9550, with a volume of 41762 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.18.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on GSL shares. Zacks Research upgraded Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Global Ship Lease from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $33.50.

Global Ship Lease Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $31.74 and a 200-day moving average of $29.63.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The shipping company reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $192.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.36 million. Global Ship Lease had a net margin of 53.62% and a return on equity of 23.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Global Ship Lease, Inc. will post 9.74 EPS for the current year.

Global Ship Lease Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st were paid a $0.625 dividend. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.8%. This is a positive change from Global Ship Lease’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 21st. Global Ship Lease’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.44%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Ship Lease

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GSL. Isthmus Partners LLC lifted its stake in Global Ship Lease by 0.3% in the second quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 113,972 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,999,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Global Ship Lease by 77.2% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 989 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its stake in Global Ship Lease by 4.5% in the second quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 11,023 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Global Ship Lease by 29.0% during the third quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 2,179 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.08% of the company’s stock.

About Global Ship Lease

Global Ship Lease, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in owning and chartering of containerships under fixed-rate charters to container shipping companies worldwide. As of March 11, 2024, it owned 68 mid-sized and smaller containerships, ranging from 2,207 to 11,040 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU), with an aggregate capacity of 375,406 TEU.