Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) Short Interest Down 5.8% in September

Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,620,000 shares, a decline of 5.8% from the September 15th total of 1,720,000 shares. Approximately 5.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 403,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Global Ship Lease Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:GSL traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $24.75. 67,415 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 578,810. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $25.30 and its 200-day moving average is $25.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $870.90 million, a P/E ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.60. Global Ship Lease has a 12-month low of $16.80 and a 12-month high of $30.32.

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The shipping company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $175.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.07 million. Global Ship Lease had a net margin of 46.90% and a return on equity of 28.92%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Global Ship Lease will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

Global Ship Lease Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.27%. This is an increase from Global Ship Lease’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. Global Ship Lease’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.95%.

Institutional Trading of Global Ship Lease

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Global Ship Lease in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,261,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Global Ship Lease during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,130,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease during the first quarter worth $559,000. ARGA Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Global Ship Lease during the first quarter valued at $1,227,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Global Ship Lease by 275.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,068,524 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $30,763,000 after acquiring an additional 783,963 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GSL. StockNews.com raised Global Ship Lease from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Global Ship Lease in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Clarkson Capital upgraded shares of Global Ship Lease from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th.

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.