Analysts Set Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) Price Target at $38.33

Shares of Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $38.3333.

GSL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. B. Riley Financial lifted their price target on shares of Global Ship Lease from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Global Ship Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Ship Lease

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Global Ship Lease by 137.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 42,098 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $962,000 after acquiring an additional 24,333 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in Global Ship Lease during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $445,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Global Ship Lease by 66.1% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,715 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 1,877 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Global Ship Lease by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 50,122 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,319,000 after purchasing an additional 4,582 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in Global Ship Lease by 45.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 60,822 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,600,000 after purchasing an additional 19,009 shares during the period. 50.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Global Ship Lease Stock Performance

Shares of GSL opened at $38.38 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.81. The stock has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.96. Global Ship Lease has a 52 week low of $17.73 and a 52 week high of $41.40.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The shipping company reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.01. Global Ship Lease had a return on equity of 22.35% and a net margin of 54.33%.The firm had revenue of $190.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.39 million. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Global Ship Lease will post 9.74 EPS for the current year.

Global Ship Lease Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 24th were issued a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 24th. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.5%. Global Ship Lease’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.95%.

About Global Ship Lease

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.