Critical Survey: Hertz Global (NASDAQ:HTZWW) versus Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL)

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) and Hertz Global (NASDAQ:HTZWW) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

50.1% of Global Ship Lease shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.4% of Global Ship Lease shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Global Ship Lease and Hertz Global’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Global Ship Lease	46.90%	28.92%	16.26%
Hertz Global	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Global Ship Lease and Hertz Global”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Global Ship Lease	$701.94 million	1.27	$304.50 million	$8.85	2.86
Hertz Global	$9.32 billion	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Global Ship Lease has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Hertz Global.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Global Ship Lease and Hertz Global, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Global Ship Lease	0	0	2	0	3.00
Hertz Global	0	0	0	0	N/A

Global Ship Lease currently has a consensus price target of $29.00, suggesting a potential upside of 14.72%. Given Global Ship Lease’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Global Ship Lease is more favorable than Hertz Global.

Summary

Global Ship Lease beats Hertz Global on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Global Ship Lease

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. The company was founded in 2007 and is based in Athens, Greece.

About Hertz Global

Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. operates as a vehicle rental company. The company operates through two segments, Americas Rental Car and International Rental Car. It offers vehicle rental services under the Hertz, Dollar, and Thrifty brands from company-operated, licensee, and franchisee locations in the United States, Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and New Zealand. The company sells vehicles and value-added services. Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1918 and is headquartered in Estero, Florida.