Renaissance Technologies LLC Lowers Position in Global Ship Lease, Inc. $GSL

Renaissance Technologies LLC reduced its holdings in Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) by 10.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 618,750 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 74,600 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 1.72% of Global Ship Lease worth $23,036,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Global Ship Lease by 137.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 42,098 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $962,000 after purchasing an additional 24,333 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position 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 valued at $124,000 after buying an additional 1,877 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in Global Ship Lease by 88.2% in the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 51,616 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,358,000 after buying an additional 24,196 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its position in shares of Global Ship Lease by 4.7% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 459,791 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $12,097,000 after acquiring an additional 20,819 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Ship Lease by 7.1% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 16,927 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $445,000 after acquiring an additional 1,127 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 analysts have recently commented on GSL shares. Fearnley Fonds upgraded Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Global Ship Lease in a report on Friday, April 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Global Ship Lease from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Global Ship Lease from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $46.50.

Global Ship Lease Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE:GSL opened at $43.31 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 2.26. Global Ship Lease, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.28 and a fifty-two week high of $43.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.90.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 22nd. The shipping company reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.16. Global Ship Lease had a net margin of 50.01% and a return on equity of 21.11%. The company had revenue of $198.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.87 million. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Global Ship Lease, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Ship Lease Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. Global Ship Lease’s payout ratio is 23.74%.

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.