ARGA Investment Management LP Boosts Holdings in Global Ship Lease, Inc. $GSL

ARGA Investment Management LP raised its position in Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) by 192.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,602 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,258 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP owned about 0.15% of Global Ship Lease worth $1,646,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GSL. CSM Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Global Ship Lease in the 2nd quarter worth about $11,057,000. Lonestar Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease in the second quarter worth approximately $5,262,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Global Ship Lease by 7.3% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,305,109 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $34,314,000 after purchasing an additional 89,258 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in Global Ship Lease by 86.7% during the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 186,631 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $4,909,000 after purchasing an additional 86,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc raised its stake in Global Ship Lease by 30.2% during the second quarter. Man Group plc now owns 268,213 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $7,057,000 after purchasing an additional 62,149 shares during the period. 50.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Global Ship Lease Trading Down 0.6%

Global Ship Lease stock opened at $36.08 on Friday. Global Ship Lease, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.73 and a 1 year high of $37.22. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $35.13 and its 200-day moving average is $31.85. 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 company has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 12th. The shipping company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Global Ship Lease had a net margin of 53.62% and a return on equity of 23.98%. The firm had revenue of $192.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.36 million. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Global Ship Lease, Inc. will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Ship Lease Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st were issued a $0.625 dividend. 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. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.9%. Global Ship Lease’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Global Ship Lease from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Global Ship Lease from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.50.

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.