Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Makes New $4.21 Million Investment in Global Ship Lease, Inc. $GSL

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 111,958 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,210,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Global Ship Lease by 51.8% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 200,806 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $7,476,000 after buying an additional 68,535 shares during the last quarter. Royal Palms Capital LLC purchased a new position in Global Ship Lease during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,665,000. First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new position in Global Ship Lease during the first quarter valued at approximately $12,681,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Global Ship Lease by 225.9% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 185,168 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $6,894,000 after acquiring an additional 128,351 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Global Ship Lease by 65.5% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 294,674 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $10,971,000 after purchasing an additional 116,606 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Ship Lease

In other news, CEO Thomas Lister sold 30,000 shares of Global Ship Lease stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.26, for a total value of $1,327,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,934 shares in the company, valued at $705,238.84. This trade represents a 65.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Anastasios Psaropoulos sold 48,330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.02, for a total transaction of $2,175,816.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 68,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,092,783.96. This represents a 41.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 80,000 shares of company stock worth $3,578,817. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GSL. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Global Ship Lease from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. B. Riley Financial increased their price target on shares of Global Ship Lease from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Global Ship Lease from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Global Ship Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Global Ship Lease currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.00.

Global Ship Lease Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of GSL opened at $45.76 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.88. Global Ship Lease, Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.28 and a 12 month high of $46.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $42.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The shipping company reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by $0.06. Global Ship Lease had a return on equity of 19.92% and a net margin of 49.10%.The firm had revenue of $198.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.85 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.67 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Global Ship Lease, Inc. will post 9.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Ship Lease Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.625 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 21st. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.5%. Global Ship Lease’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

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.