SFL (NYSE:SFL) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of SFL (NYSE:SFL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of SFL from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. BTIG Research increased their target price on shares of SFL from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.00.

SFL Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of SFL stock opened at $11.89 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 49.54 and a beta of 0.43. SFL has a 1 year low of $6.73 and a 1 year high of $12.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $11.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.91.

SFL (NYSE:SFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The shipping company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.13. SFL had a net margin of 4.37% and a return on equity of 0.26%. The company had revenue of $174.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.77 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.24) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SFL

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SFL. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of SFL by 3.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 685,833 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $7,400,000 after purchasing an additional 25,820 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in SFL by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 68,731 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $742,000 after buying an additional 6,054 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in SFL in the 1st quarter worth approximately $310,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in SFL by 25.2% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 437,565 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $4,721,000 after buying an additional 88,100 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in SFL by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 27,709 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 2,164 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.59% of the company’s stock.

SFL Company Profile

Ship Finance International Limited (NYSE: SFL) is an independent owner of modern, large-size ocean-going vessels that provides finance and leasing services to the global shipping industry. The company’s fleet encompasses a diversified mix of crude oil tankers, product and chemical tankers, liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, dry bulk carriers, container vessels and floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) units. By structuring long-term charter agreements and bareboat leases with major oil companies, commodity traders and offshore operators, Ship Finance International seeks to deliver stable cash flows and risk-adjusted returns for its shareholders.

In its core business, Ship Finance International acquires or finances vessels through forward sales agreements and then charters them out under fixed-rate contracts, typically ranging from five to 20 years in duration.