Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.38 EPS

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) released its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The shipping company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.38, Zacks reports. Global Ship Lease had a return on equity of 27.88% and a net margin of 46.38%. The firm had revenue of $190.98 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $171.73 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.53 earnings per share.

Global Ship Lease Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of GSL opened at $25.62 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $908.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.15. Global Ship Lease has a 1 year low of $17.73 and a 1 year high of $30.32.

Global Ship Lease Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.20%. This is a boost from Global Ship Lease’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Global Ship Lease’s dividend payout ratio is 19.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on GSL. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Global Ship Lease from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded Global Ship Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Clarkson Capital upgraded Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Ship Lease

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Global Ship Lease stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) by 137.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,098 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 24,333 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Global Ship Lease worth $962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. 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.