Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.35 EPS

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The shipping company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35, Zacks reports. Global Ship Lease had a net margin of 53.09% and a return on equity of 24.81%. Global Ship Lease’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Global Ship Lease Stock Performance

NYSE:GSL opened at $31.67 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.20. Global Ship Lease has a fifty-two week low of $17.73 and a fifty-two week high of $33.08. The company has a fifty day moving average of $30.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.94.

Global Ship Lease Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 24th were given a dividend of $0.5469 per share. This is a boost from Global Ship Lease’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%. Global Ship Lease’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.50%.

Institutional Trading of Global Ship Lease

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Global Ship Lease by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 111,949 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,945,000 after buying an additional 6,828 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Global Ship Lease by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 168,327 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $5,168,000 after buying an additional 14,424 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Ship Lease by 12.7% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,048 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $396,000 after acquiring an additional 1,701 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc lifted its position in shares of Global Ship Lease by 30.2% in the second quarter. Man Group plc now owns 268,213 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $7,057,000 after acquiring an additional 62,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Ship Lease by 86.7% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 186,631 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $4,909,000 after acquiring an additional 86,648 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on GSL shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price target on shares of Global Ship Lease in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.50.

Global Ship Lease Company Profile

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.