SFL (NYSE:SFL) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of SFL (NYSE:SFL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of SFL from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of SFL from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.00.

SFL Stock Performance

Shares of SFL stock opened at $11.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.24 and a beta of 0.44. SFL has a fifty-two week low of $6.73 and a fifty-two week high of $12.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $11.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.46.

SFL (NYSE:SFL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The shipping company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.13. SFL had a net margin of 4.37% and a return on equity of 0.26%. The firm had revenue of $174.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.77 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.24) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis.

SFL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.9%. This is a boost from SFL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. SFL’s payout ratio is presently 366.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SFL

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in SFL by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,395 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $198,000 after acquiring an additional 1,474 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in SFL by 52.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,060 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $173,000 after purchasing an additional 7,273 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in SFL by 122.0% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 181,556 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,489,000 after purchasing an additional 99,767 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of SFL by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 16,034 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of SFL in the 2nd quarter worth about $139,000. Institutional investors own 28.59% of the company’s stock.

SFL Company Profile

Ship Finance International Limited (NYSE: SFL) is an independent owner of modern, large-size ocean-going vessels that provides finance and leasing services to the global shipping industry. The company’s fleet encompasses a diversified mix of crude oil tankers, product and chemical tankers, liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, dry bulk carriers, container vessels and floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) units. By structuring long-term charter agreements and bareboat leases with major oil companies, commodity traders and offshore operators, Ship Finance International seeks to deliver stable cash flows and risk-adjusted returns for its shareholders.

In its core business, Ship Finance International acquires or finances vessels through forward sales agreements and then charters them out under fixed-rate contracts, typically ranging from five to 20 years in duration.